


Percy Jackson One-Shots

by LifeOfRoos



Category: Percy - Fandom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fun, Gods, M/M, No Angst, One Shot, One-Shot, Romance, Short Story, Silly, Some gods - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2020-04-08 05:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 168
Words: 243,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19100545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeOfRoos/pseuds/LifeOfRoos
Summary: In this book, I write Percy Jackson one-shots. Most of them were previously uploaded on my FanFiction and Wattpad account, but I decided to transfer them here as well! ! I write romance, random headcannons and ideas, cute stuff and funny ideas (No angst, very bloody stuff or anything like that).The One-shots get better in quality further in the book. The first ones are not amazing, but I added them to be complete.Update: I have decided to stop writig one-shots every week. Don't hesitate to send me prompts, though!





	1. Percy's Secret

Like most stories do, everything started out as a normal day at camp. Mostly normal. A few campers from Camp Jupiter were also in Camp Half-Blood. Normal activities had been going on for the entire day, and now it was time for dinner. Most people were hungry. Everyone lined up before the picnic place. When everyone sat down and the announcements had been announced, the other campers all noticed one thing: Percy Jackson was missing. That was weird. Percy had an enormous appetite. He never skipped a meal. Chiron stood up. 'Annabeth, do you know where your boyfriend is hanging out?' Annabeth felt a flutter in her stomach when Chiron said 'boyfriend'. It had been a few years, but she still couldn't believe it. She shook her head. 'No, I don't know where he is hanging out.' 'I last saw him during canoe racing!' a boy from the Hephaestus cabin shouted. A few other people nodded. Chiron sighed. 'Let's just start eating. He will probably come up here in a few minutes.' Everyone agreed and started with their food.  
Percy knew he was late, but this was something he had been working on for years. He was almost ready. He sighed and straightened his shoulders. He was going to do this. He had to tell the entire camp. He walked out of his cabin and closed the door. He quickly walked towards the picnic place, so that he wouldn't stop and start to think about what was happening. He sighed another time and entered the pavilion.  
He heard a few people whisper. He didn't care. He needed to do this. He didn't look at anybody, especially not Annabeth. There was to high of a chance he would burst out laughing if he looked at her. He went up to the Poseidon table. Instead of sitting down, he climbed upon the table. While he was doing that, his tiara almost fell of his head. He put it back in place and turned around, facing the camp. Everyone went dead silent. It's not every day see the hero of your camp in a long cape and a tiara on his head, with his hair in a short ponytail. He trembled in his ballerina shoes. He spoke up, loud and clear, so the entire camp could hear him: 'My fellow demigods, and staff of Camp Half-Blood, I have something to confess. I am sorry that I didn't tell you earlier.' He looked at Annabeth. She looked at him like she didn't understand. He blew her a kiss and looked around. He looked at the head-table. Chiron and Mr. D looked like they were still progressing what was going on. Both of them clearly wondered if they should put an end to it immediately, or let it happen. Percy shook his head and threw his arms in the air. 'People, I am actually a princess!' He screamed through the entire camp.   
Most people started cheering like crazy. Annabeth smacked her head against the table, wondering why she dated this dude. After that, she started to laugh and ran up to him. Percy helped her upon the Poseidon table and put her arm in the air. 'And this is my beautiful queen!' He exclaimed. The entire camp went wild. Chiron started to laugh as well. Mr. D put his face in his hands and walked out of pavilion, cursing this terrible job once again. In the meantime, the rest of the seven and Percy's friends had climbed upon the Poseidon table as well. Percy gave them all kind of different titles: 'Jason, you are the duke and Piper is your duchess.' Piper and Jason hugged each other. 'Hazel and Frank are my knights.' Hazel and Frank saluted. 'I think Leo should be my fellow prince.' Leo was to busy laughing to notice. 'Will, you are my doctor and Nico is also a knight. Reyna is the one ruling the kingdom.' Will kissed Nico on the cheek while Reyna and Nico shook their heads in disbelief. Percy turned to the rest of the camp. 'I hope you guys are happy with your new monarch. Get used to it,' He told the camp. Then he paraded out of the pavilion. Chiron clapped in his hands, the central symbol that everyone should be silent. Everyone calmed down a bit and went back to eating. That was unexpected, yet the refresher the camp had needed.


	2. When Nico Blushes

Nico stood on Half Blood hill. From this point he could oversee the entire camp. He was deep in thought about love, life, death, the world, popcorn, trees, canoës and much more. He stood motionless and didn't blink. Automatically his thoughts kept going back to Will Solace, the pretty Apollo boy. He still couldn't believe Will had agreed to date him. He was so sweet and sunny, yet Nico... wasn't, according to himself. He sighed. 'What's with the frowny face?' A voice behind him asked. Nico turned around, startled. It was his sunny boy. 'No-nothing...' he managed to say, before falling silent. Nico felt that he was blushing over his entire face. Quickly he put his face deep into his black hoodie. Under that hoodie he wore a camp shirt, but nobody (except for Will) knew that. Will giggled. 'You look really adorable with that hoody, like that...' he whispered. Than Will hugged Nico. 'Everything will be okay, my ghost king,' he mumbled. Nico sighed and nuzzled into Will's arms. 'Wee-hoo!' I was right, peeps!' A girl screamed. The entire Aphrodite cabin came running up the hill. Nico blushed even deeper. The girls and boys all crowded around him and Will, saying things like: 'aww, how cute!' 'How long have you been dating?' And 'it is true loveee!' It was to much. 'Nico freed himself from Will's arms and ran away, back to his cabin. Will followed him. When they were both inside, Will hugged him again. Nico's head felt like an oven. But as long as he was with Will, everything would be fine. He smiled and gave Will a sweet kiss. The redness started to disappear from his head. He sighed again, and for the first time in forever, the son of Hades truly calmed down.


	3. Dinnertime

Not many people know, but Percy is actually an amazing cook. His mother learned him how to cook at a young age, because she was of the opinion that everybody should be able to make themselves food (and come on, she was right).  
Still, most people don't really believe in Percy's abilities as a cook. So when Percy announced that he was going to be the one to cook the food for the next reunion of the seven, his friends already had the number of the nearby pizza parlour ready. It also wasn't just the seven coming together this time. Nico, Will, Reyna, Grover, Tyson and Calypso had been invited as well, and Reyna had taken her sister Hylla with her, just because. The seven needed to make a good first impression on their monthly get-togethers. They didn't want the kitchen to transform into what looked like a warzone (Like the time Leo and Jason had cooked together. The kitchen at Camp Half-Blood had smelled like smoke and Blitzen for months. Also, Jason and Leo had been assigned stable-duty for two months. It was not their proudest accomplishment).  
Percy had everything worked out: he had already prepared the chicken and the vegetables (his friends had prepared the fire extinguisher in the meantime). He was now baking bread, with the vegetables cooking on the stove. He knew how to multitask in the kitchen. He was already making chocolate-mousse for desert and had almost finished the first course (Tomato Soup, with an extra portion without meat for piper and Grover). After 45 minutes, everything was done and he brought the first course into the room. At first, everyone was a little weary about eating it. Annabeth bravely took bite. She was surprised to find out it was that tasty, and quickly everyone was eating the soup. It was gone swiftly, so Percy brought in the second course: the Chicken and vegetables (he had also made Tofu for the vegetarians). All the friends got more and more happy and chatty. Percy giggled. Good food did something to you. When he brought in the third course, everyone was laughing about some joke Reyna made. That Reyna was joking around, was a rarity, and everyone got extra happy because of it. The mousse tasted great, and Frank was enjoying his fruit salad (he was lactose intolerant and all). At the end of the night, everyone went home happily and with a full feeling in their stomachs. Annabeth was the only one to not go home - she stayed at Percy's house.  
The next morning, Percy made Annabeth and his parents and sister breakfast, while people were already planning their next get-together. To would be next month, but it wasn't sure who would cook yet. Leo and Jason had volunteered, but the rest had politely put them down. They weren't sure Camp Half-Blood could get through another exploding kitchen.


	4. The First Time A God Saw A Cat

Egypt, 900 B.C. It was very hot, and Dionysus had just been thrown out of the palace of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was scared of other people having power, and Dionysus expected to be attacked the next morning. The army of the pharaoh wouldn't be much of a challenge, but that didn't take away that he felt like he was melting. While he was looking at the floor, he accidently almost bumped into a servant. 'Sorry, I can't walk straight because of the heat,' Dionysus said. The servant nodded knowingly. 'I understand. I get overheated often, too.' He smiled. 'Mew! Mew!' The servant's smile faded. He turned around, to where the cat was standing 'Ruby! Please, my lady, be silent!' The cat walked past the servant, but stopped in front of Dionysus. The later sunk down to the level of the cat. 'You call this creature a 'lady?' He asked the servant. 'Yes, my lord. You never know. She could be a goddess in disguise.' 'The people in Egypt have a goddess for just this mewing creature? Interesting...' the cat pushes against Dionysus's hand. The servant also sunk down on his knees. 'She likes to be petted.' He put his hand on the cats' fur. Ruby started to purr. 'No creatures in Greece make that sound,' Dionysus remarked. 'Why does it do it? And just to say it, I don't think the Olympians have heard to this creature that you called a 'cat.' 'If a cat purrs, it means they like being petted. Cats are gentle creatures, most of the time.' The servant giggled when the cat rubbed it's head against his leg. 'Ruby is the cat owned by the queen.' Dionysus lays his finger on the cat's forehead and petted it. 'It is a pretty soft animal. Yet, how does it defend its...' the cat scratched his wrist. 'I... I think I get... it.' The cat pulled away it's paw and layed down, looking content with itself. The servant pulled a piece of cloth out of his bag and wrapped it around the wound. 'Well, I think I should get going. I'll look for your cat-goddess someday. I actually like this creature. Have a good day!' Dionysus walked away from the palace, leaving the servant in the extreme heat with a cat named Ruby.


	5. Annabeths' Eightteenth Birthday

Annabeth was sitting in the changing room. Her dress floated around her. She didn't usually like huge dresses, but this was what would make her dream perfect. She would be a princess for one night, the way the princesses in the old films she always watched with her dad were. She liked those films partly because of nostalgia, but that wasn't the only reason tonight. She giggled and walked out of the room, looking really elegant.  
She arrived at the top of the stairs. All the lights turned in her way. Everyone stopped dancing, eating, talking and doing everything else they were doing. Everyone looked in her way and gasped in awe. Annabeth walked down the stairs. Everyone stepped out of the way when she walked down the ballroom. Everyone except for one person: Annabeth's boyfriend, Perseus Jackson. She arrived in front of him and put her arms on top of his arms. She laughed. 'Come on, Seaweed Brain! You know how to waltz, rights?' Percy nodded. He couldn't speak. His girlfriend looked so pretty. The main song from Beauty and Beast started playing, and they danced around the room. Everyone in the room cheered, and when they were done, Percy gave Annabeth a kiss. Then they turned around and walked around the room. Annabeth got a lot of presents. Sally hugged her tight. 'Eighteen years, girl!' She said. She was very happy to be here. Annabeth's dad cried a bit and hugged her even closer. 'You are my princess, Annabeth,' he whispered in her ear. He kissed her on the cheek. Annabeth's stepmom looked angry. But it didn't matter to Annabeth. This was her day. Her eighteenth birthday, on which she was wearing a dark blue dress made of silk. It had a wide skirt, and the sleeves of the dress were made of see-through fabric. She wore a silver bracelet on both wrists, and a silver necklace on her neck. Her shoes had high heels. They were also dark blue, with silver applications. Her hair was braided, with silver stars into the braid. Annabeth had seen them in Sisi, and as a little girl she had always wanted stars like that in her hair. Everyone who saw her that night, said she looked like a star - and like a real princess. With a handsome prince, of course.


	6. Surfing In Camp Half-Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper, Percy and Leo try to surf on the beach, but Jason worries about them.

'YEE-HAH!' Screamed piper. The waves were high, and Percy's godly powers made it even better. The greek demigods (minus Jason - he had been really busy with something) had been riding the waves for a few minutes now. And things quickly... escalated, so to say. After 7 minutes, a huge water fight had started between the four demigods. Just as Leo launched a huge ball of water (he had quickly made a machine) at Percy, Jason walked onto the beach. He saw the demigods fighting, and freaked out (he was the mom-friend after all). He quickly ran back to camp, and crashed into the big house. Chiron and Mr. D were there, luckily. 'They are killing each other!' He screamed. 'Who is killing who?' Chiron asked. 'And where?' He added. 'The others! On the waves!' Jason panicked. Chiron nodded, then turned to Dionysus. 'You go with Jason and see what's happening. I need to teach an archery class.' Mr. D nodded and rolled his eyes. Chiron walked out of the room with his bow and quiver. 'Show me what's happening, then,' Dionysus said to Jason. Jason sprinted out of the big house, followed by Mr. D.  
Jason arrived on the beach, and saw that everything got even worse. He ran on his place, waiting for Mr. D to walk onto the beach. He looked behind him, and saw nothing. 'So, what's the problem?' Someone asked beside him. Jason looked at Dionysus. 'Did you just teleport here?' Jason asked. Dionysus shrugged. Jason went further: 'Can't you see?' He waved in the direction of the surfing friends. At this point, leo was throwing a huge fireball in Annabeth's direction. It exploded and both Annabeth and Piper got thrown of their surfboards. Jason screamed. 'This seems like pretty normal camp stuff...' Dionysus mumbled. Jason looked at him with big eyes. 'Are you looking straight? That... that was a fireball!' Jason screeched. 'They are throwing water and ice at each other! They'll murder each other!' 'Did that ever before? No, it didn't. I am sure this won't be an exception,' Mr. D said in a very matter-of-fact way. He started to turn around to walk back to camp, but Jason grabbed his shoulders. 'No! No! No-no-no-no-no! This isn't normal! I am sure it isn't like other times!' A huge explosion sounded behind them. Both of them turned to the beach again. Piper was currently draped over Annabeth's surfboard, and Percy was floating on the water in a huge bubble. Leo was flying around on a fire-spitting machine, above everyone. Everyone was screaming at each-other. 'Are you convinced now?' Jason asked. 'Well...' 'PLEASE! Do something! Jason grabbed Dionysus arms and shook him. 'They are killing each other!' He let go of Dionysus, who fell onto the sand, and started screaming and running around in circles. 'What exactly have you eaten today? Something odd, maybe?' Mr. D aksed. Jason stopped and also fell onto the sand. 'No. Maybe I haven't slept enough, like, not since tuesday, but I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. I think.' 'It's friday.' 'So?' 'You want to say you haven't slept in three days?' Jason fell silent. 'I... I don't know...' Dionysus sighed. 'You demigods should sleep more, not freak out and leave me alone,' he mumbled. He tried to get up on his feet again, yet an enormous explosion made that impossible. Jason and Mr. D got blown over again. They heard the four demigods scream. 'Is something happening?' Jason asked. Both looked at the water. 'Maybe, I guess,' Dionysus asked. Then, a huge wave rolled up to Long Island Beach. 'Let's run!' Jason said. Both of them did, but it was to late. They were slammed into the sand, while the other four demigods screamed in delight. 'That was great!' Jason squeaked. 'Ugh,' Percy growled. 'My head hurts...' Annabeth said. 'I think I broke my arm!' Piper screamed. Jason heard that and quickly got up. Or, tried to quickly get up. He got onto his legs, and smacked on the beach again. Piper walked up to him. 'Jason? What are you doing here? Weren't you on a quest?' Jason smiled at her. I came to save you, princess! Will you help me get up?' He dumbly smiled at her. 'Piper pulled him up. Let's go back to camp. 'Why were you four surfing anyway?' Mr. D asked. There was sand in his hair and on his clothes. 'I know I look stupid, okay? But please explain. I think Chiron might like to hear it.' Percy swallowed and giggled dumbly. 'Well, eh, because, eh... the waves... Erm, Poseidon... something? Also, there is a piece of kelp in your hair.' The demigods looked at each other. They were in trouble.


	7. Karoake Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a nice Karaoke Night In camp Half-blood.

Karaoke night at Camp Half-Blood! Everyone was in a good mood. Even though, Leo seemee to be in an even better mood than the rest of camp. He had a great plan for tonight. 'Hey, Leo!' He heard from behind. 'I plan noth... Oh, hi, percy!' Leo said, while he grinned stupidly. 'What are you planning Leo?' 'Nothing, as I already said. See you later!' Leo ran away, to the campfire.  
Leo found a spot where nobody could see him, and dressed up. He put on a glittery jacket, a pair of silver trousers, golden platform shoes and a disco-ball hat (he had that last thing just because it was possible). He checked the inside of his pocket - the button was still there. He sneakily walked back to the place where the rest of the Hephaestus children were sitting. They gave him strange looks, but everyone knew Leo by this point. They all thought it was just flash. Chiron walked up front, and announced that the karaoke evening had officially begun. Everyone cheered, and the first singers walked up to the campfire. The words of the songs were projected onto the flames, with the help of some magic. The first singers were two sons of Apollo, because obviously. The sang some dumb song, Leo didn't really listen. The next singer was Percy, and Leo did listen to him. Percy was a pretty good singer, contrary to what most people thought. He just didn't do it often. He sang a song from the disney movie Moana. Everyone thought he sang good, and clapped at the end. The next one was Will. He sang 'you are my sunshine.' Nico flushed red in 2 seconds, unable to move. At the end of the song, Will winked and Nico shadow travelled away, to his dads palace. Hades still doesn't understand why he heard his son scream through the palace at 11 p.m. The next singer Leo cared about was Piper. She sung 'Summer Time,' and actually enchanted everyone by the campfire. She put just a pinch of charmspeak in her song. Some other people sang. Jason sang extremely of key. Than, at the end of the evening, Leo went up. People whispered to each other, talking about his glowing suit. Leo started to sing (he had chose an old song 'Freak'). He sang of key, but people were invested in his clothes. Halfway through the song, he pushed the button in his pocket and an enormous ball of confetti exploded. Everyone in the theatre got showered with it. The Aphrodite kids screamed. The mouths of the Hephaestus kids fell open. The colour of the flames changed to a bright yellow: the colour of surprise. The flames went up even higher than they already were (that was Leo. He manipulated them). He pushed a button in his other pocket, and his clothes transformed into a giant robot with Leo in it. He ended his song on a very high note, which was even more off-key than the rest of the song. He bowed in his robot-suit. He pushed the button which should change his robot back to his clothes, but it didn't work. He pushed it again, slightly panical. It did nothing. He looked on the arm of the robot. The electricity was gone. He used to much. 'Help! Help! HELP!' He started to scream. 'Jason! Jay-Jay! Superman! I need lighting!' He screamed. Jason understood, and a thunderbolt filled the suit with energy. Leo pushed the button, and the robot folded into the suit again. Leo bowed while everyone cheered.  
Leo stood in the bathroom. He had thrown his clothes on extremely quick, and was now wearing his pajamas. He smiled to his reflection. 'Another job well done by the great and powerful Leo,' he said to himself. He yawned, and fell asleep on the bathroom floor.


	8. Letter Writing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy wants to write a letter home, but dyslexia makes it difficult. Luckily, a girl with a type writer offers to help.

Some people in Camp Half-Blood chose to write a letter to their parents every week. Others chose to write once every two weeks, and a few wrote once a month. Every week, Hermes came to camp to pick them up and deliver them. Percy wrote every two weeks. He did his best to write the letter himself, but his dyslexia made it hard. He had problems with spelling and grammar, and sometimes writing a letter took up to 2 hours. It started to annoy him, but he didn't want to let his mom and stepfather down, so he kept writing them. Yet, he started to dread writing home more and more. Because it was dangerous, using a computer with autocorrect on it was impossible. What was also bugging him, was that other kids who were just as bad in writing as he was were always ten times faster ready than he was. One time, he asked a boy from the Apollo cabin (because of course he was from the Apollo cabin): 'how do you guys write so quick?' 'Don't you know? There is a blind girl in camp,' the boy answered. 'I know Sheila. What does that have to do with the letters?' Percy Asked. 'If you give her the paper and ink for her typewriter, she will write a letter for you. Yet, you do have to dictate it for her, of course.' 'Why can she have a typewriter? I thought even that wasn't allowed.' 'Chiron made an exception for her, since she is blind and all.' 'Ok. Thanks,' Percy mumbled. The next time he went to write a letter, he looked around the pavilion. There was one girl sitting by the main table, with an Athena boy in front of her. When she was done, she got a piece of paper from the typewriter and gave to the boy. He thanked her and walked away. Percy swiftly walked towards the girl, and sat down in front of her. She looked at him with empty eyes. 'Who are you?' She asked him. 'I am Percy Jackson. I heard you write letters. I, eh... got ink and paper. And this sounds like drug dealing when I say it that way.' The girl giggled. 'It really does. To who do you want to write?' 'To my mom and stepfather.' 'Do you want both of them to get a seperate letter?' Sheila asked. 'No, one is ok. Now, should I just tell you what I want in the letter, and you type it out for me?' The girl nodded. 'Ehm, okay. So, eh, dear mom and Paul...' he stopped. The girls' danced over the typewriter. 'Go on,' she said, 'I can write quickly.' 'It looks like magic when you type. Okay, er... How is Estelle doing? Has she grown much already? I am doing pretty good. Yesterday, when I was climbing the climbing wall, an Ares kid tried to push me of. But I was to quick for him. He looked so defeated when I looked down on him. If Chiron sends you a letter about some accident on the beach, which involves me smacking down our Camp leader and Jason into the sand, that is all ok. Nobody got hurt. If Chiron doesn't send you a letter, you can ignore that bit.' Sheila giggled. 'So that really happened? I thought those were rumours, and that Jason and Dionysus were just tired or something...' Percy felt his cheeks glowing. 'No, it really happened.' He laughed. 'Yet, er... Annabeth and my other friends are doing good. I plan to surprise Annabeth next week. That was all - not much happened in camp, for a change...' 'was that the end of the letter or part of it?' 'Part of it. Give Estelle a kiss from me. Bye, Percy. That was the end of the letter.' The girl wrote the last words and got the paper from the typewriter. She gave it to Percy. 'I hope you mom likes it. Now, I have to write a letter to my own mother. She is kind of lonely on Olympus, so I write a letter every week.' 'Ok, Bye!' Percy walked back to the Poseidon table. He quickly wrote something under Sheila's letter: 'mom, I wrote this letter with help. That's why everything looks so neat. Love, Percy.' While he put the letter into the mailbox, he thought: 'lonely on Olympus? Who is that girl?'


	9. When Goddesses Get Sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orpheus is sad about the loss of Eurydice. His music makes everyone around him sob uncontrollebly. How do two goddesses react to this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Olympus, Eighthundred B.C.

Eurydice was dead, and Orpheus was crying his head of. To stop the pain, he tried to play some music. Most of the time, it made him feel better, but he underestimated his own power. He played music that was so sad, that he got even sadder because of it. And he wasn't the only one who was affected by it. Up on Olympus, two goddesses who normally didn't get along, were now crying in each others arms. Athena and Aphrodite were sitting on a pink couch in Aphrodite's palace, curled up in their pyjamas, eating Ice Cream (how they had all that stuff in 900 B.C.? Well, the gods don't tell us everything. There is a good chance they have hoverboards, self-tying shoelaces and whatever other wild inventions of the next 20 centuries right now). 'Th-this is so s-sad!' Athena sniffeled. 'I-I think you-you're right this once!' Aphrodite cried. A blob of Strawberry ice cream fell on Athena's white chiton which she used as a pyjama. She didn't even care. Some servant could make a new one, anyway. Aphrodite grabbed a new tub of ice cream out of nothing (Olympus had a never-ending Ice Cream dispenser in 900 B.C. It was magical, so no mortal could access it, in any way. Eventually, some Roman emperor made ice cream). Orpheus went on with his solo, even louder than before. Aphrodite tore a hole in her frilly pink nightgown. Both goddesses sobbed loudly, hugging plushies. Yet, at some point, the music stopped. Someone had intervened, telling Orpheus to go to the Underworld and get his wife back. Athena and Aphrodite came to their senses. Aphrodite looked at the hole in her nightgown. Athena felt raw from crying. They looked at each other. Aphrodite giggled, and grabbed a mirror from somewhere. She held it in front of Athena, who screamed at the sight of her teary and Makeup smudged face. Aphrodite turned it towards herself, and screamed even louder. She always wore more makeup, so she also had more mascara and lipstick running down her chin. 'What are we doing here?' She screeched, 'Get out of my house, nobody can see me like this!' That last bit wasn't needed. Athena had already made her way to the front door, screaming and running towards her own palace. Aphrodite fell to the floor. 'Wh-why did I let that nerd into my house?' She thought to herself. She ran towards her bathroom and locked herself in, to fix her face. Athena was running down the streets of Olympus, getting weird looks from everyone around her (it was not like they were looking better. Everyone had cried during Orpheus's solo, and most people had makeup running down their necks). 'Why was I even sitting in the palace of that Lovey-dovey-fashion goddess?' She thought to herself.  
Later that day, everyone had swiped the make-up of their pajamas. Rest was back in Olympus, accept for the central park. That was the place were Aphrodite and Athena were screaming at each other, trying to figure out who asked who to come to who's house while they were crying there eyes out (right next to them stood Hephaestus and Ares, who were currently busy with the same question. Oh, you want to know what they were doing? Just swap the names of Aphrodite and Athena out. That's your answer).


	10. Dance Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth Secretly loves dancing.

Little Annabeth steps into the living room. She is wearing a pink dress, and is barefeet. Her dad is standing on the other side, looking out the window and muttering to himself. 'Dad?' Annabeth asks. Her dad turns around, sees his daughter and smiles. 'We already did the foxtrot yesterday. How about we try a waltz?' Annabeth claps in her hands. Her dad puts his hand on her back, and they dance around the living room. Annabeth let out a screeching laugh when her dad picks her up and swings her around. He pulls his daughter close and hugged her. 'Frederick? What is this!?' A voice sounds from the door. Annabeth's smile fades. Her stepmom is standing in the room, with a frown on her face. 'You should be working,' she tells her husband. 'And you,' she sneers at Annabeth, 'shouldn't distract your father. Go back to your room. Annabeth walks out of the room, cheeks red, nearly in tears.  
'Come on, Percy!' Annabeth giggled. 'I don't know about this, Annabeth. I am not a very good dancer...' 'nonsense! You can do a simple waltz, it's easy!' Percy shivered when they entered the room. 'Are you sure about this? I might stand on your feet, and some gods might be watching...' Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder and snapped her fingers at the band (the band consisted of four Apollo kids). 'Come on Percy. I'll lead.' She put a step forward, and one backwards. Percy put a step backwards, and then forward. He followed Annabeth, and it was pretty easy. The music stopped, and Percy and Annabeth stood on the dancefloor. 'That wasn't so hard!' Percy said. Annabeth smirked. 'That was only the beginning, Seaweed brain!' She put her hand in a different position. 'Now you lead.' 'No, no! I can't!' 'Yes you can.' Annabeth kissed Percy. 'I believe you can,' she whispered. Percy smiled, and did what Annabeth did before: one step forward, one step backwards. They danced through the room. The longer they danced, the more the music disappeared to the background. Percy and Annabeth were taken in by each other. The Apollo kids stopped playing, but they danced further. The swirled through the room. Percy lifted Annabeth, and she felt an explosion of happiness in her stomach.


	11. Hospital Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy gets into the Hospital - Annabeth is a little worried.

Annabeth sprinted towards the hospital. She didn't wait for Jason, Piper or even Sally. She knew the doctors said Percy was fine, but she had to see it with her own eyes. Otherwise, she just didn't believe it.  
The shock from yesterday was still in her body: Percy on the floor, with his leg hanging in a position a leg shouldn't be hanging. Jason and Piper had sprinted towards him, while Annabeth had stood there, silently. She had felt tears in her eyes, while her boyfriend was hurt. That he was hurt, was more painful to her than any pain she had ever felt.  
Annabeth was impatiently knocking on the walls of the lift. 'Go, go, go, go!' She muttered to herself. An old man looked at her, annoyed, but an older lady smiled. She leaned close to Annabeth. 'The love of my life got hurt once, too. I couldn't sleep for two days, and only then did the doctors call me to say that she was all right,' she whispered in Annabeth's ear. Annabeth crooked out a smile. Than the lift doors opened. 'Thank you,' she quickly said to the old lady. She stepped out of the lift and sprinted through the hospital.  
'Miss, don't run in the hospital!' A huge nurse blocked Annabeth's path. Annabeth had already dodged a few other nurses, but this man was really big. She couldn't get past him. 'Please, sir! My boyfriend is here, in hall 6E! I have to find him!' The man looked at her weird. 'You know hall 6E means that he is getting better, right?' He asked. Annabeth sighed. She gave the man really sad puppy-dog eyes. His gaze got a little softer, and a spot opened. Annabeth saw her chance and raced further, dodging Doctors, nurses and hospital equipment left and right.  
Finally she reached hall 6E. She knew her boyfriend laid in room 6, but that didn't stop her from accidently walking into room 4. She quickly got out, after she got some weird glances from the people in room 4. She shook her head. Annabeth was never this disoriented. She knocked on door 6, and walked in. There was a boyfriend. 'Annabeth!' Percy squealed, like a happy guinea pig. 'You came!' Annabeth said down on Percy's bed, and pushed a kiss on Percy's mouth. Both of them giggled. 'How is everything with your leg?' Annabeth asked. 'It's good. Look, I got blue plaster!' Annabeth laughed when she saw her boyfriend's baby blue plaster. She got a permanent marker out of her pocket and wrote her name on the plaster, with a little heart next to it. 'Are you the only one who is coming, or do more people love me?' 'Your mom's coming, with Piper and Jay-jay.' 'Let me guess, they are still downstairs?' 'Probably.' 'Good.' Both of them leaned in and kissed again. Annabeth relaxed. Her boyfriend was ok (for now).


	12. Gaming Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seven play some video games.

The seven got together again. Not for karaoke or dinner this time, but for video games. They decided that the best place to play them would be Percy's cabin, since they wouldn't disturb anybody in there (and there was no giant statue like in the Zeus cabin). Percy had very carefully put black paper over the windows, so nobody could see the lights coming from the cabin at 10 P.M. Percy heard a knock on the door. The seven walked into the room. Percy quickly closed the door behind him, and pushed a pillow against the cracks. Leo installed the gaming consoles, and the night was opened.  
'Go! Go! GO!' Piper screamed. The seven had tried to keep everything silent and well, but after fifteen minutes everyone had forgotten that it was illegal what they were doing. Everyone was just going against everyone. It was war, and nobody could back out of it (except for Jason, who was following all the laws while playing GTA. Everyone had started to ignore him). Piper and Annabeth were the most heated up - they had sworn to each other that the one who would become a Pokémon master first, would get a lifelong supply of gummy bears from the other. And both of the were eager to win. 'Annabeth, stop spamming double team! That's a cheap tactic!' Piper screamed. 'Says the girl who keeps trying to use attract on my Pokémon!' Annabeth screamed back. 'Girls, tone it down a littl... LEO! Get your away from mine!' Percy screeched. 'Give up, herr Percy,' Leo said, 'I am winning this round of Mario Kart!' 'In your dreams, Leo!' 'In my dreams you are already kneeling at my throne, saying: Leo, Leo, please forgive me for my crimes!' Percy glanced at Leo with a confused expression. Leo took that opportunity and threw a blue shell on the course, which hit Percy. 'NO! Leo!' Percy screamed. Leo laughed like a villain and won the game. Percy buried his head under his pillow and screamed.  
At that moment, Nico and Will appeared in the room, out of nowhere. Everyone quited what they were doing and stared at them. Nico flushed bright red. 'Wrong room, sorryshadowtravellingishard, bye!' He spat out. He wanted to shadow travel away again, but Will stepped into the room. 'Are you guys having a secret game night?' He asked. Everyone else nodded. 'Neat. Come, Neeks, we're going to beat Percy and Leo. Nico looked over at Percy and Leo, noticed they were playing Mario Kart en ran over to them. 'I am the best at this game. They had it in the Lotus Hotel. I must have played this game for like a year straight.' 'Let's see who wins!' Percy said, with a fire in his eyes. They raced as if their lives depended on it.  
'Hazel, how old is this game?' Frank asked. 'It's at least sixty years old,' Hazel added. They both stared at the aliens of space invaders on the scream. 'I am getting a little fed up with this.' Hazel nodded in agreement. 'Yes, me too. Let's play super smash brothers.' And so they did.  
The next day, all nine heroes were very tired. They had played games until 5.30 A.M., and hadn't slept at all. Percy accidently hacked into the sand during sword fighting, Leo fell of the climbing wall. During lunch, the seven pushed over so many plates and glasses that they all got annoyed looks from the nymphs. Chiron didn't know what was going on. 'Maybe I do need to give these kids extra vitamins?' He thought to himself.


	13. Journey Through Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space is the final frontier, they say. Does that count for demigods, too?

Hazel, Leo and Frank smiled. They were scared on the inside, but on the outside they smiled. Today was the day they were going to test the space ship. It was built by the Hephaestus and Vulcan kids, and everyone who wanted helped. It was a special demigod spaceship. They would reach the moon in 6 hours. There, the three demigods would put a flag on the moon. On one side, it would be the Camp Half Blood flag. On the other side, it would show the Camp Jupiter flag. They were ready.  
Space was beautiful. Hazel had already taken a thousand pictures, while Leo was scanning the area for aliens. Hazel thought that that was unnecessary, but both Frank and Leo had insisted on it. Speaking of Frank, he was in the bathroom. His stomach wasn't reacting very well. Hazel sighed. 'The vastness of space is so beautiful,' she whispered. 'It won't be beautiful, once we find the aliens!' Leo screamed. Hazel rolled her eyes. There wouldn't be aliens, she was sure.  
The landing on the moon went very good. The Hephaestus and Vulcan kids had done a very good job building the spaceship. Hazel, Frank and Leo put down the flag, and took a picture. Then, they got back into their spaceship, and prepared to be flying around again for six hours. 'We are stepping into the ship, back to earth!' Frank said in the microphone. They heard cheers from the demigods back on earth. Hazel, Frank and Leo smiled. This was a breakthrough in demigod history.  
'Hazel! Hazel! You were wrong!' Frank screamed. Hazel looked up, and screamed as well. On the outside of the ship, and green blobby thing was looking at her. At least, Hazel assumed it was looking at her. She couldn't really find any eyes. 'Kill! Kill!' Leo screamed. They all put on their space suits and climbed out of the spaceship. Hazel got her laser gun (also made by the Hephaestus kids on earth, because 'you never know') and shot at one of the blobs. The blob got hit and was reduced to a thousand blobby pieces, which quickly reformed back into the blob. 'Inside, get inside!' Frank screamed. All of them did, and Leo closed the door just in time. A blobby sound sounded on the door, as if someone through mud against iron.  
But you get used to everything, even green blobs on your window. After 1 hour, the demigods were used to it. After 2 hours, the blobs got bored and left. The heroes flew back to earth without much problem.  
Back on earth, they told everyone their story. People already started to make new plans, for a next space mission. This was truly the invention of the demigod century.


	14. Percy's Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy is just relaxing on an Island, when a band of Pirates show up...

The seven had sailed out with the Argo II, just for fun. Now that the war was over, they could do that. Now, they were all relaxing on an island. Nobody else was there. They had made an campfire on the beach, had eaten s'mores and they slept on the Argo. At least, most of them slept in the Argo. Percy had fallen asleep on the beach, and everyone decided to not wake him up. He was still tired from his last quest. That was a bad call, because sadly, pirates cruised around in the area. They saw the handsome Percy sleeping on the beach, and decided to capture him.  
First, they walked up to him. Percy waked up, saw the pirates and screeched. He grabbed his sword out of his pocket, and attacked the pirates. Sadly, they were with twenty pirates, and Percy was alone. He was vastly outnumbered. One especially big pirate smacked him on the head, and Percy's world went black.  
The pirates bound Percy to the mast, with a very thick rope. A rumble sounded. One of the pirates looked up. 'It was probably nothing,' he said. The pirates put one guard next to Percy, and the rest tried to sail to Europe. Once they were there, the idea was to ask ransom for Percy. They were skilled pirates, they knew ways to get addresses and phone numbers out of their victims.  
Eventually, Percy woke up. He thought he would see the beach, and maybe a few dolphins. Once he saw the deck of the pirate ship instead, he screamed, and remembered what happened last night. 'Who are you!?' He screamed to his guardian. 'You don't have to worry. You just have to tell us about who you are, your family will send in the ransom, and you will be free. Okay?' Percy went calm. 'Yeah, that's okay, my dude,' he said, 'Can I warn my dad about it?' The pirate looked at him with a weird expression on his face. 'If you want to...' 'thanks! Hey dad! I am kidnapped! HELP ME!' Percy screamed. The pirates looked at him like he had gone crazy. 'You know we are on the ocean, rig...' a huge wave went over the side of the ship, and the pirates screamed. The guardian dropped his sword, and it sliced through The rope which was bounding Percy to the mast. Percy stood up. Another wave went over the ship, and the pirates screamed again. Percy jumped over the side of the ship, into the ocean. 'Hey, kiddo!' He heard someone say behind him. 'Hey, dad!' Percy hugged his dad. He heard the pirates scream above him. 'Those pirates won't survive long, I think. The storm is getting heavy,' Poseidon said. 'Dad?' 'Yes?' 'Could you bring me to Ellis island? My friends are there. I'll find my way home from there. Poseidon nodded. 'Let's go, son!'  
All the other people of the Argo II were panicking on the beach. 'Where's Percy?' Hazel screamed. 'I saw him asleep here yesterday!' Leo screeched, while he pointed at the place Percy was sleeping. Jason was crying. 'Is he kidnapped? What if he's kidnapped? What if monsters got to him?' Annabeth screamed, louder then the rest of the group.  
The ocean swirled, and a tunnel of water rised above the ocean. Everyone on the island went silent when Poseidon and Percy appeared out of the water spiral. Percy waved at Poseidon, and turned towards his friends. 'Let's go home, guys. There are pirates out here.' Everyone just nodded, and flew back to Camp Half-Blood.


	15. Peter Johnson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new kid called Peter Johnson shows up in camp, which causes a bit of nuance...

A fresh, new, confused demigod passed the border of Camp Half-blood, with his satyr-guide. He didn't know what was happening or what was expected of him, but he held his head high. The satyr brought him up to the big house. A centaur was standing there, with two other people. The centaur smiled. Peter couldn't believe his eyes. 'Are-are you really a centaur?' He asked, with a trembling voice. He centaur nodded. 'Yes, and my name is Chiron. To tell you quickly: the greek gods are real, and one of them is your parent.' Peter's eyes went wide. 'So you want to say my mother isn't dead?' His eyes narrowed again. 'How do you know that?' Chiron smiled. 'Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to cross the border around camp.' Peter sat down in a chair. I-I don't know...' 'tell me your name,' Chiron said. Peter looked up. Only now did he see the two other figures behind Chiron. Both had black hair, even though on one of the persons it was more blue and on the other more purple. The younger one had sea-green eyes and the older one had purple eyes. Sea-green had a sun kissed skin, and purple was very pale. They looked like they had been arguing about something. Peter felt a shiver go down his spine. What was this weird place?' He looked at the friendly centaur. 'My name is Peter Johnson,' he managed to say. Chiron looked at him, surprised. The two men behind him gasped and almost fell of their chairs. The older one, with purple eyes, got up the quickest. A smile grew on his face. 'Well, Jackson, I think it is the easiest if you go and show this kid around camp,' he said. Jackson looked at him with fire in his eyes. 'Oh, yeah, well I think that you...' 'Percy! Will you please show Peter Johnson around?' Chiron quickly intervened. Percy grumbled, but grabbed Peter Johnson's arm and dragged him away. 'Sorry,' Percy mumbled. He put a smile on his face. 'So. Welcome in Camp Half-blood. You'll probably be claimed by your godly parent really soon.' 'So... the greek gods are really real?' Peter asked. 'Who's your parent, then?' 'Poseidon, the god of the ocean. And yes, gods are real.' 'Have you ever met one?' Percy's face went back into a sour expression. 'That guy that ordered me to show you around? He's a god. Dionysus, the god of wine. He is more powerful than you might think.' He spat out the last sentence. Peter wondered why Percy had been in that big house in the first place. 'So, here are the strawberry fields, over there you can see the forest - don't go in there on your own - that over there is the arena, and that's the theatre,' Percy continued. We walked further. 'this is the food pavilion, the climbing wall...' 'Wow! Is that real lava!?' Then Peter saw the pegasi. 'Is that a flying horse? And why are there so many buildings? Is that a pirate ship? I love it here!' Peter clapped in his hands. Percy sighed. 'Why should I show him around?' He muttered to himself. 'Hey, Percy! Have you found the...' Annabeth stopped mid-sentence. 'Oh, your showing around a new kid?' She looked at Peter. 'What's your name?' She asked. 'I'm Peter Johnson! Who is your godly parent?' Peter said. Annabeth looked at Percy. Who had hidden his head in his hands. 'What is...' 'yes! His name is Peter Johnson! Also, tag, you're it! I need to go tell a god that he is...' 'I'll take it over. Bye, Percy!' Annabeth grabbed Peter's hand and led him away. 'Miss?' 'Yes, Peter?' 'Why does everyone I've met in this camp act so weird around me?' Annabeth sighed. 'It's okay, kid. Just ignore it. They have to stop someday. And just let Percy and Mr. D fight out their arguments themselves, okay?' Peter Johnson nodded, even though he still didn't understand what was going on.


	16. Help For campers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally has given up her house as a safe heaven for demigods. When Clarisse shows up, things can't go without problems.

The Stoll brothers were sitting on Sally Jackson's couch, in New York. They were sipping their tea, while Sally kept babbling on about some stuff. After they got their energy back, they thanked Sally. She gave them a hug and said she was happy to help. She waved them goodbye, and closed her door.  
The 'Help for Demigods' system had been invented by Sally Jackson, who often saw her son get home soaking wet from the rain, hungry, thirsty and tired, and had heard the story of Jason The Guy Who Didn't Properly Eat And Sleep For Three Days.She thought that something had to be done. So she contacted Chiron, and they got an idea: demigod parents could sign up, and then their home would be open for demigods to walk inside whenever they felt tired, hungry or whatever while on quest. There were twenty one homes open for demigods, and more and more parents gave up their name and address. The goal Chiron and Sally had set was at least one help-station in every state. There hung a map up in Chiron's office, on which he marked every state that had at least on help-station. The plan worked pretty well.  
Clarisse was tired and hungry. She had been seeking for some gods magic toy, and she hadn't eaten properly in three days. The god hadn't helped her. He had pulled the magic thing out of her hands and had disappeared. The daughter of Ares wandered through New York. She didn't have any money for food. She knew there was one other option, but she wouldn't crash into Jackson's house. 'Never-ever-forever,' she thought. Yet, as she got close to the address of Sally Jackson, she found herself wandering towards it. She felt under her clothes, and pulled out a small locket. It had once belonged to Silena Beauregard, but she had taken it once the girl had died. She sighed, realising that Silena would have gotten help. She ringed the doorbell. 'Hello, who's there?' A warm voice set. Clarisse kept silent for a few moments. 'Hello?' 'I-I am Clarisse la Rue. I just got back from a quest, and...' 'Oh, do come in!' The door clicked open, and Clarisse entered. She walked up to the apartment. A woman stood in the door opening. 'Hello! My name is Sally. Do you want a cup of tea?' Clarisse nodded, and walked inside. She sat down on the gray couch every help-station had. Chiron had an identical one in his office. It was meant to be a checkpoint. Sally brought her a cup of tea, and sat down on a chair in front of her. She started asking some friendly questions to Clarisse, who started to relax a little. Than, a voice sounded from upstairs. 'Mom! Do you know where my swim shorts are? I need to train and I...' Percy walked into the living room, and saw Clarisse. The girl blushed red. Percy's expression went weird. 'Oh. Hello Clarisse.' 'Percy.' Sally noticed how the demigods behaved around each other, and realized that they didn't like each other. Like any good mother, she told Percy to also sit down on the gray couch. Yet, Clarisse quickly gulped her tea up and stood up. 'Eh... thanks, mrs. Jackson, but I got to go. Percy looked at her with an angry look in his eyes. Yet, Sally smiled and nodded. She stood up and gave Clarisse a hug. The girl froze. She quickly stepped out of the appartement and ran down the street, even though her feet hurt.  
'Clarisse! You forgot your wallet!' Clarisse stopped. She looked behind her. Percy came walking down the street, with her wallet. She cursed in ancient greek. Percy gave her the wallet. 'My mom told me to bring it to you,' Percy said. He looked annoyed. 'You have a great mother,' Clarisse said. Percy gave her a weird look. 'Thanks?' He mumbled. 'Yeah. Bye!' Both demigods turned around, and walked back to their homes.


	17. Going To The Dentist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazels' First time at a modern dentist office doesn't go as smooth as she'd like.

Hazel was shaking in her chair. This was the first time she ever went to a modern dentist, and it all looked really scary. In the 1930's, dental care was horrible. Dentist often pulled out teeth without anesthesia and brushing your teeth wasn't a normal thing (Hazel had started to brush her teeth as soon as she arrived in camp Jupiter. She understood people thought it was normal, and Reyna had explained to her why). Nico had told her that dentists worked far more profesional now, but that went in one ear and one ear out. Yet, Reyna had set up an appointment for her at the dentist in New Rome. She was there right now, with her boyfriend for support.  
'Are you sure it's safe?' Hazel asked her boyfriend for the millionth time. 'Yes, Hazel. I also go to the dentist twice a year, and I never died. They even had to pull two teeth, and I survived that as well.' 'Hmm-mmm.' Frank hugged her. 'It's okay Hazel.' 'Hmm-mmm.' The dental assistant walked into the waiting room. 'Hazel Levesque?' She asked. Hazel jumped up. 'Yes, ma'am!' She shouted. Everyone in the waiting room eyed her up. Hazel blushed, while Frank pushed her into the room were the dentist was.  
The dentist was a large men, somewhere in his forties. He was a son of Apollo and his name was Derek, said his nametag. He looked at Hazel, who was shivering. He smiled. 'It's okay, girl. Nobody ever died in this room.' He laughed, but Hazel didn't see that as a good thing. She sat down in the dentist chair. When it started to go down, she screamed. 'What happens? Why does it do that?' She sat up. The dentist looked at her with a weird look. 'Is this your first time at a dentist?' Hazel blushed again, and nodded. 'I see. You can lay down and open your mouth.' Hazel looked at frank, who nodded. She did what the dentist asked. The dentist got his equipment, and looked into her mouth with the mirror. 'Do you brush your teeth everyday?' 'Ye-h,' Hazel said with a muffled voice. The dentist nodded. 'Your teeth look healthy. Accept for this one in the back - I think I might need to pull that. Hazel screamed and ducked down into the chair. 'Pull my tooth? Right now? Doesn't that hurt.' The dentist sighed. 'I am not going to pull it today, but you might need to make a future appointment. Now I am just going to clean up your teeth.' Hazel closed her eyes and didn't say anything else during the appointment.  
Hazel and Frank walked out of the dentist room. 'We can go now, right?' Hazel asked. 'Well, we need to make another appointment. You remember what the dentist said about that tooth? We should make an appointment to get it pulled out.' Hazel froze. 'Isn't that dangerous, or at least painful?' 'They use anesthesia nowadays. You practically don't feel anything.' Frank walked up to the front desk. 'Can I help you?' The dental assistant asked. 'Yes, this girl needs to make a second appointment. To get a tooth pulled,' Frank said. The assistent nodded. 'Of course. How about next tuesday?' 'That soon!?' Hazel said with a shivering voice. 'Yes, please,' Frank said. 'Okay. What's your name?' The assistant asked Hazel. 'H-Hazel Levesque-que.' 'Okay then. I'll see you two next tuesday. Goodbye!' Hazel and Frank walked out of the dental clinic. Frank kissed Hazel's forehead. 'How was that? Much better than in 1934, wasn't it?' 'I guess so,' hazel replied. She was worrying on the inside. Getting a tooth pulled was very dangerous in the 1930's, and this first impression of the dental clinique didn't take the fear away.


	18. Trip To Olympus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olympus is a gorgeous place.

It was the Christmas holiday, and everyone in camp Half-blood was going to Olympus for winter solstice. Chiron had decided that it would be a fun field trip, and that the new demigods would learn something from it. Everyone got into the busses, and they drove up to Olympus. Twenty by twenty, they got up to the 600nd floor of Olympus. As soon as they were all in the flying city, Chiron put them all in a corner and told them that they needed to stay safe: 'demigods, listen up! We are on mount Olympus. So, don't fall of the mountain, don't swear at anyone, don't drink alcohol, don't eat to much and don't get blasted to ashes. Have fun!' Chiron galloped away, leaving the demigods on their own on Mt. Olympus, the home of the gods.  
Most demigods immediately ran of, to see what the house of their parents looked like. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and some others who had already seen Olympus, didn't rush of. That group wasn't big. Beside from the three friends, there were Clarisse, the Stolls, Katie Gardner, 1 Nemesis camper, 3 Aphrodite campers and Sheila, the blind girl. They were all looking around, talking about what they were going to do. They walked over the bridge in a relaxed manner. When they entered the city, though, even they got a kick of excitement. Olympus was so huge, that everybody who wasn't raised in the place was always smitten with its beauty. The demigods walked passed the villa's of the lesser gods: Kymopoleia, Hymenaeus, Hedone and many, many more people. All villa's were built in a different style, to the wishes of the owner. Kymopoleias house was like the wild sea at dusk, Hymenaeus had a house like a wedding place and Hedone's house looked fun. They passed a few palaces, were more important gods lived: Eros, Nemesis, Hypnos and a few more. After that, they entered a huge square with a fountain. They could see the palaces of the Olympians from where they were standing. Those houses were the biggest. All of the people who were standing on the square gasped collectively: the palaces were gorgeous. You could really see who's palace belonged to who. In the middle stood the throne room, with on both sides six palaces. The first to the right was Zeus, the first to the left Hera (They didn't know why she had her own palace. It was clearly necessary, apparently). Next to Zeus was a blue, ocean-themed palace: Poseidon's house. Poseidon lived next to Hephaestus, who practically had another forge for a house. It was pretty in it's own way. Hermes had what looked like an office, and his palace served as a space between Hephaestus and Ares. Ares' palace was red, and looked like dolorous guard before Lancelot freed it from lord Brandon. The last palace on the right was Apollo. His palace was pure gold, and even at night time it was hard to look at. Out of his windows came the sound of music (like, sounds from music, but everyone was playing My Favourite Things from the sound of music. Don't think to hard about it). On the left side, next to Hera's home, stood Demeter's house. It looked like a greenhouse, with fruit growing everywhere. She lived next to Athena, who had modeled her house to look like a library/military base/lab. It looked kind of weird, but in a weird way it worked. She lived next to Artemis. Artemis palace was plain, since she didn't hang out on the Olympus much. Yet, there were deer running around her Palace. She lived next to Aphrodite, which was a little weird. Aphrodite had a palace which looked like a fairytale castle. It looked like someone combined Neuschwanstein, Buckingham palace and the Disney castle. The last palace belonged to Dionysus. It was white, with grapevines covering most of the garden en growing over the entire place. In the middle, under the great hall, layed one more palace: Hestia's hearth, as everyone called it. The place was as humble as Hestia herself, and everyone thought it was the prettiest place on the entire Olympus. The demigods walked towards the small palace. Hestia opened the door and told them to come in. On the couch, with warm cups of tea in their hands, the demi's told her about last year. The stories got pretty crazy. Eventually, Sheila got up and walked away. Percy looked out the window, and saw she walked towards Dionysus' palace. Percy thought that was weird. He thought Sheila's mother lived on Olympus. What was she doing in the palace of a male god?  
The next day, everyone got together by the lift again. They all looked tired, like they had partied the whole night long. She of the kids were clearly hungover, and Chiron was collecting the kids who had annoyed the gods that evening. Because no demigod ever truly listens to the rules.


	19. Babysitter Percy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sally needs a break. Percy offers to watch Estelle in her place.

Sally needed a break. So, Percy, like the good son that he is, offered to babysit Estelle for some time while Sally went to the spa for some relaxation.  
At first, everything went smoothly. Estelle was a very happy, silent baby, and Percy knew how to feed babies and change diapers. He played with his sister for some time (he did this by making little water figures appear above her crib. Estelle always laughed happily when he did that). Then, it was time for Estelle's nap. She swiftly feel asleep. Percy got the babyphone and went downstairs to watch some television. There was not much, but he settled for the six thousandth broadcasting of The Sound Of Music (He would never tell anybody, but Percy was a pretty good singer and like The Sound Of Music a lot). He was just singing along to Edelweiss, when he heard a sound from his sisters' room. Not like a cry or a baby noise, but something else. It was like something glided across the room. Without hesitation, Percy grabbed Riptide and ran upstairs. In his Sisters' bedroom stood a slimy monster Percy had never seen before. He stabbed to monster, but that only made it angrier. So Percy grabbed his baby sister out of her crib and ran downstairs with her in his arms. Estelle started to cry, but Percy didn't listen. He ran out of the front door and down the street (his mother had taken the car to the spa). He didn't look behind him. He waved to a taxi, and told the man to drive him to Long Island, price didn't matter. The taximan gave full gas, and the car drove towards camp Half-Blood. Percy looked behind him, and saw the monster roaming around. He sunk down very low. 'Say, which cabin are you?' The taxi driver asked. Percy looked surprised. '3, actually. And you?' 'I am from cabin 9.' Percy gave him a weird look. 'Did you do something to the car we are currently driving in?' He asked the man with a suspicious tone in his voice. The man smirked. 'It can fly,' he said. Before Percy could answer to that, the car took of into the sky, and they were going way quicker to Long Island than ever before. Percy squealed. Estelle started to sob less violently, and eventually calmed down. Percy gave her her binky and she fell asleep again. 'Is she a demigod as well?' The taxi driver asked. Percy shook his head. 'No. Her name is Estelle - she is my half-sister on the mortal side.' The driver nodded. 'I see. And how did you suppose she was going to able to cross to border?' Percy bit his lip. 'Shoot. I hadn't thought of that. Ehm, maybe the energy field will let her through? She's only a baby...' 'let's hope so, because I plan on landing in Camp Half-Blood.' The car started to lose speed and flew closer to the ground. They landed in Camp Half-blood, while a few campers screamed and ran away. Percy got out of the taxi. 'Thanks for the ride. Ehm, I should have money somewhere in here...' the taxi driver waved his hands. 'It's okay. I'll talk to Chiron. It'll be fine.' 'Thanks!' Percy ran away, with his sisters in his arms. He sprinted towards the big house. 'Chiron! Chiron!' He screamed, as he walked inside. Chiron walked into the room. 'Yes, Percy? Weren't you taking care of your sister today?' 'There was a monster, and it wouldn't die! I had to bring Estelle to safety!' 'You brought a mortal baby into camp?' Chiron raised his eyebrows. 'Well, yes. I couldn't think of any other place that would be save beside from camp Half-blood. Chiron sighed. It's okay, Percy. Just contact your mother and she can stay here overnight. You'll just have to cook baby food yourself, is that fine? I'll make sure Mr. D and the rest of camp know about her.' Percy nodded. 'That's fine, Chiron. Thank you!' He walked out of the big house, and towards the Athena-cabin. He passed by a few Aphrodite girls, who all screeched and crowded around Estelle, cooing. 'Oh, she is so beautiful!' Lacy cooed. 'How old is she?' Another girl asked. 'She is seven months old, and her name is Estelle,' Percy said. After the cloud of Aphrodite children had vanished, Percy walked further to the Athena cabin, and showed his sister to Annabeth. 'Look, ann, this is Estelle!' Percy happily said. 'Oh, she's a adorable!' Annabeth said. Estelle smiled at her. Annabeth smiled back. A horn sounded, somewhere far away. Dinnertime. Annabeth and Percy walked towards the pavilion. On their way, they were stopped by Dionysus. 'So you really brought a mortal infant into camp and believe that's save?' He asked. Percy rolled his eyes. 'I couldn't think of any other place.' Estelle smiled at their camp director. Dionysus smiled back at her, which got him surprised looks from Annabeth and Percy. He looked back at the demigods, and said: 'she can stay for one day, not longer.' Than he walked of. Annabeth and Percy looked at each other and giggled. Then, they entered the pavilion, and everyone who was already there walked up to Percy and cooed over Estelle, even Clarisse. 'She has the same eyes as your mom, Percy,' Clarisse remarked. 'Thanks?' Percy said. He sat down at the Poseidon table. He still didn't know what the monsters was, but Estelle was safe. And that was the most important thing in the world to him.


	20. Starbucks Barista

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth needs some help with her job.

Annabeth sighed and forced a smile on her face. 'What would you like?' She asked the man by the counter. 'One normal, black coffee. And make sure there is nothing else than coffee in it. I don't need milk or all the sugary stuff that those girls today want.' He rolled his eyes, as to say: 'can you believe people want anything else than just coffee?' Yet, Annabeth smiled. 'Of course, sir. Who's name shall I put it under?' 'I am not giving you my name. Back in my day, people didn't need to give the barista their name to get coffee! That was considered very dangerous, young lady!' 'That's okay, sir. One black coffee, please!' She said to the other employee. 'Not so loud!' The man demanded. 'You never know who's listening! Back in my day, people were silent and the barista's made the order themselves!' 'I'm sorry, sir.' Annabeth's colleague put down the cup of coffee. 'Here's your coffee, sir! Enjoy your day!' The man walked away with a sour expression.  
Annabeth wanted a good job, and work experience would make the chance of getting a good job higher. Plus, she needed to pay for college. So, she found a job at a local Starbucks and worked there for twenty hours a week. It didn't pay very good, but it kept her occupied. Plus, the strong smell of coffee, chocolate and cake disguised her demigod smell. The only problem was some annoying customers, but she got used to those.  
Today, somebody had made a huge order for some party. So annabeth and her co-worked Kayleigh went to work. Three people, who worked for the delivery service, came in. Annabeth recognized them as a few other half-bloods from camp. They recognized her to. 'Hey, annabeth! How is everything? Spotted any monst...' Annabeth pushed her hand against the boy's mouth. 'Hunter, we're not alone,' she whispered, waving towards Kayleigh. 'Oh, yeah. Sorry,' Hunter dumbly said. The other two sighed deeply. 'Hermes kids...' the girl, Halley from to Hephaestus cabin sighed. The third one, one out of two people in the Dionysus cabin called Pollux, said: 'We had an idea you two are going to find stupid.' Annabeth looked at him. 'What, exactly?' She asked. 'We can help you with making the drinks,' they said in union. 'Do you know how these things work?' Annabeth asked. 'Well, not exactly, but how hard can it be?' The Hephaestus girl murmurd. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Harder than it looks.' 'Ah, come on Annabeth, we won't break it!' Hunter said, giving her two sad puppy-dog eyes. 'Yes, you three can help, please!' Kayleigh suddenly said. The three demigods cheered and all walked to a different machine. 'We need cappuccinos, and over there is an espresso machine,' Annabeth explained. 'Halley, stay away from the americano machine. We don't need it.' Halley nodded, and joines hunter, who was trying to figure out how the cappuccino machine worked.  
After 50 minutes, it was done. They had made one-hundred cups of coffee, just for one party. The delivery people were putting the food into their cars. Annabeth spotted some other things in there. 'They also asked for pizza's, hamburgers, hotdogs, sushi and fries?' She asked. The three heroes nodded. 'I guess they're hungry,' Pollux remarked. 'Well, that's what you get, when you put six hundred people in one room and call it a party,' Hunter said. 'Six Hundred? Annabeth asked. The others nodded. Annabeth sighed. 'Say, do you three go to Camp Half-blood after this?' 'Yes,' Hunter answered. 'Could you guys take me with you? I don't have any way to travel today. Haley and Hunter looked like only the thought was already tiresome. Pollux opened his car door.  
'So, this is what you three do?' Annabeth asked over the microphone. They had been on their way for an hour. Halley had told her they had half an hour left to go. 'Yes. And just like you find it weird that we drive around all day, we can't understand you stay in one place all day,' Hunter answered. Annabeth laughed. 'You're right,' she said. She turned the microphone down, and accidentally opened the glove compartment. 'What are you doing? In there there are only things owned by my...' Pollux stopped talking once a bunch of stuff fell out of the glove compartment. 'My half sisters,' he finished his sentence. 'How many do you have?' Annabeth asked, looking at the mountain of things at her feet. 'I got Sheila on my father's side, and three little sisters on my mother's side,' Pollux sighed. Annabeth laughed, while she stashed stuff back into the glove compartment. 'And all four of them leave trash in your car?' Annabeth asked, while examining a purple beanie baby. 'Yes. I have to bring my half sisters to school now and then, and I drive Sheila to places in the country. She can't drive herself around and all.' Annabeth nodded. 'We're here!' Haley announced through the microphone. The daughter of Hephaestus, and Son of Hermes and the Son of Dionysus all got out and brought stuff to the party. Annabeth yawned. It had been a long day.


	21. Extra Camp Counselors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeus sends Athena and Poseidon to camp half-blood to help.

'That's it! I've had enough!' Zeus screamed, with a thundering voice. 'Athena, Poseidon, if you two can't stop arguing, I will send you two to camp Half-blood. Both of you will help Chiron with chores over there for two weeks!' Poseidon and Athena looked shocked. 'But, dad, that isn't possible! I can't be missed in everyday live!' Athena cried out. 'And who'll handle the oceans?' Poseidon whined. 'You two aren't dead. It will have to handle itself. Has the quality of the wine gone down? No. So it's really possible. See you two in two weeks!' Zeus clapped in his hands, and Athena and Poseidon appeared in camp Half-blood.  
Chiron was waiting for them. 'I was expecting you two,' he said with a smile. 'Come over to the big house, than we will discuss your tasks.' 'Say, Chiron,' Athena said, as they were walking through camp, 'it's not like we'll have to do housework, right? We'll be put in charge of a few workers, right?' Chiron looked at her. 'I'll tell you everything in the big house, Athena.' Athena swallowed. That wasn't a good sign. 'But, we don't have to see those children all the time, right? We'll get breaks every other day, right?' Poseidon mumbled. Chiron only looked at him. They arrived at the big house. It was empty, except for them. The two gods looked around. 'What's with the grapevines everywhere?' Poseidon asked. 'What do you think? I haven't been alone here for nineteen years,' Chiron answered. 'Yet, we'll get down to business.' He grabbed a slip of paper from the table. 'Athena, you'll be in charge of cleaning the tables after diner and making sure the demigods clean up their cabins.' Poseidon laughed, but stopped when he saw Chiron's look. 'And Poseidon, you'll have to clean the weaponry and armour every day. Also, from both of you is expected that you help the demigods with training. You'll have to help each of the them equally,' he added. Both gods looked mortified. 'And on top of all that, you can't punish the demigods yourself. You'll have to go to me or Dionysus if anybody did you anything.' Chiron had a pitiful look in his eyes. 'I am sorry, lady and lord, but lord Zeus ordered it. I can't just walk up to him and complain.' The gods nodded, understandingly. A horn sounded. 'Time for dinner,' Chiron said. I'll tell the heroes what's going on once we're there. Do you want to sit at the head table or with your children?'  
'Demigods! I've got an announcement to make!' Chiron announced, with Athena and Poseidon at the head table next to him. Your here to say Mr. D is gone for good?' Somebody screamed. 'No, Chiron isn't here to say that, sadly,' a third voice said. Dionysus walked into the pavilion, with two boys, who were soaking wet. They gave each other venomous looks and sat down at their tables. Dionysus walked up to the head table, giving Athena and Poseidon weird looks. Chiron scrapped his throat. 'Well, what I am actually here to say is that we'll have two people assisting me, Mr. D and Argus with our duties for two weeks. Lord Zeus ordered lady Athena and lord Poseidon to help with chores.' The kids almost fell of their chairs. 'Do they have just as much power over us as our three regular counselors?' Somebody screamed. 'No,' Chiron answered. The pavilion exploded. Dionysus looked at his fellow Olympians, and burst into laughter. The demi-gods talked about nothing else for the rest of the day.  
That evening, Athena and Poseidon were sitting in the living room (there was a tiny one upstairs. It was mostly used so Chiron, Mr. D and Argus could talk about something without being squished together in Chiron's tiny office and so no demigods could waltz inside). 'Why are they so loud?' Athena cried out. 'Why are there so many? There must be at least two hundred demigods in there!' Poseidon whined. 'Two Hundred Forty Six, actually,' Chiron answered. 'Two Hundred Forty Six!' The new gods screamed. 'We'll never survive! And the art business will go down!' Athena screeched. 'People will die on the seas! Even more than usual!' Poseidon whined. 'Wine is still sold and there aren't suddenly thousands of people in asylums, and I've been here for nineteen years. It'll be fine,' Dionysus responded. 'What about Amphitrite? I'll...' Poseidon started, but he stopped with that sentence halfway through. He decided not to say anything about missing his wife for two weeks while Dionysus was giving him a look that would have instantly killed the entire population of Paris. 'It can be fun!' Chiron said. 'And you'll be able to spend more time with your children!' He added. Poseidon and Athena sighed. Yes, that last thing might be fun. If it hadn't been combined with doing chores all day.


	22. Mythomagic Quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico wants to get his mythomagic cards signed by all of the Olympian Gods.

Nico wanted go get his mythomagic cards signed by the gods. He knew that he had previously told everyone that that was 'to childish,' but he wanted to have a full set of fourteen signed cards. When he told his plan to Will, his boyfriend only kissed him on the cheek and quickly walked away. Nico shook his head. 'I'll show him,' he thought.  
The moment he saw Hestia in camp, sitting at the fireplace, he grabbed his binder with cards and walked over to her. 'Hello, lady Hestia,' he said, and he sat down next to her. 'Hello, child,' she said in a kind voice, 'What did you bring?' 'oh, nothing,' Nico said. He blushed. Hestia smiled. 'Those are MythoMagic cards, aren't they?' Nico nodded. Hestia laughed and got a pen out of nowhere. She got her card out of the binder and signed it. Nico smiled. 'Thank you, lady Hestia!' He said. He bowed and ran away. He walked through camp for a while, until he ended up at the big house. He stopped, thought about it, and walked into the house. He sat down in front of Dionysus, who glared at him. Nico opened his binder and started flipping through it. The card Hestia had signed fell out. Nico gasped, while it fell down on the floor. He tried to quickly pick it up, but fell over while doing that. As Nico got up, he saw Dionysus pick up the card. Nico quickly sat down in his chair and looked at Dionysus, who was examining Hestia's card. 'How many cards do you have, that are already signed?' The god asked. 'Just this one. I saw Hestia by the hearth in camp, and I decided that, eh, you, where the closest person after that.' Nico grinned. Dionysus looked at him with a poker face. 'No, I am not doing that,' he said, and looked away. 'Please?' Nico asked. Dionysus rolled his eyes. 'You want all of them signed, right? I will sign your card if you get all other gods to sign...' 'I accept that challenge! Bye!' Nico swiftly walked out of the big house.  
Asking his dad to sign was easy. He looked at his son, and just signed. Persephone rolled her eyes. She said 'no' at first, but signed after her husband asked her to do so. 'Hades likes you, you know, that's why I'm signing. There's no other reason.' She threw the card at him and walked away. Nico shadow-travelled out of the Underworld, and appeared in Poseidon's castle. He waved his binder in front of the seagods face. Luckily, he understood and quickly signed, before grabbing his arms and dragging him up to the surface. Nico gasped and sucked the air into his lungs. He thanked Poseidon and shadow travelled away again. He appeared into a MacDonald's. Sadly, Will was there as well.  
'Have you been shadow-travelling around?' He asked. Nico shrugged. 'How did you know I would be here?' He asked. Will sighed and hugged him. 'You always travel here when you're tired, You silly goose,' he said, 'come. I'll get my dad to sign his card.' Will got the card of Apollo out of the binder. He waited for a minute, and then also grabbed the card of Artemis. 'I'll see you in camp. And eat something. With vegetables and fruit,' Will added. He kissed his boyfriend on the head and walked out of the MacDonald's. Nico sighed. 'He was just suggesting something, right?' He thought. He walked up to the counter and ordered some food. He sat down, tried to take a bite, and was immediately disturbed by Ares and Hera. 'So, we heard that Dionysus would sign your stupid card of all of us signed?' Ares thundered. Nico nodded. Hera grabbed a pen and signed her card. Ares did the same. 'Make sure he does as he promised,' Ares added. Both of them disappeared out of the restaurant. Nico quickly ate his food and walked away. He tried to go back to camp, but a gust of wind scooped him up and brought him into a garden. Athena and Demeter were standing there. 'So. Ares and Hades have already signed your cards?' Demeter said with glaring eyes. 'Y-yes,' Nico mumbled. Athena got her card and wrote her name on it. Demeter almost tore the card apart, that's how furiously she was writing. 'My daughter said she told you he signed because of Hades. I write because of her. Have fun,' Demeter told Nico. The goddesses disappeared. Nico quickly travelled to camp, and hoped the gods couldn't find him there. While he walked through camp, people were whispering. A few Hermes and Hephaestus kids walked up to Nico. 'Hey, Nico, our dads heard about your signing session. Maybe we can get them to sign. Nico gave the kids his cards and walked further. He was stopped by Will and a lady. Will gave Nico the cards signed by Artemis and Apollo. The woman grabbed the card with Aphrodite, and signed it. She waved, and disappeared. 'How did you get Aphrodite to come with you?' Nico asked. 'All the gods pretty much heard about your quest. If you don't sign, you're pretty much seen as a total heartless monster. Since Hades and Persephone signed - they usually don't do that. Also, Hestia asked everyone to sign. And it's Hestia. Most people listen to her.' 'Great,' Nico said, taking the cards from the Hermes and Hephaestus cabin in his hands. 'Like, everyone listens to Hestia you say? Because I have everyone accept...' thunder was heard everywhere, and Zeus appeared out of nowhere. He looked at Nico, who sunk to one knee. Zeus pulled the binder out of Nico's hands, and signed his card. He disappeared again. Nico smiled and turned to Will. 'Now I got everyone. Want to walk me to the big house?'  
Dionysus flipped the binder with cards. He looked at Nico. 'How even...? You know what, Let it go.' He signed the card and walked upstairs. Nico high-fived Will and hugged. They walked outside. Will, Nico and Nico's binder with Mythomagic Cards signed by the gods.


	23. How To End Up In The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Jason are having a… small argument.

Leo and Jason were running around the lake. 'Jason! Give me back my nails!' Leo screamed (as in those iron things people use to build, not his actual body parts or something). 'No!' Jason screamed. 'You stole my nike sneakers, I take your weird building parts!' 'Jay, I needed them to look cool at the karaoke! Why don't you understand?' Leo screamed back. 'You could've made your own shoes! You have nails! Or, well, had!' He waved around the nails and laughed in an evil way. 'Jason!' Leo cried out. 'It's okay, Leo. I'll give them back!' Jason walked over to Leo, put out his hand, and in the last moment flung the nails into the lake. 'Jason!' Leo screamed. Jason laughed hard and flew up into the sky. 'Leo, give me my sneakers and i'll buy new nails for you!' Leo was trotting around like an animal with a serious temper. 'Jay Jay! I trusted you!' 'Nike sneakers.' 'Shut up about your stupid sneakers!' Jason looked at him, very angry, and lost his control of the winds. He fell down, into the lake. Leo almost died laughing, but Jason send a gust of wind his way, so Leo also plummeted into the lake. He came above the water, acting like he was dying. 'Eh! Jason Grace! You murdered me!' He whined. 'I'm dying! The life is flowing out of me! Jay Jay! How could you? I thought I could trust you! Now it's time to...' 'go to the dinner table and eat something. And no, you two don't get time to change clothes,' a third voice announced. Grapevines clutched around Jason' and Leo's bodies, pulled them out of the water and put them upon the ground. Jason and Leo walked to the pavilion, while Dionysus gave them disapproving glances. They waltzed into the pavilion and up to their tables with straight backs and annoyed expressions.  
Yet, the news about Athena and Poseidon entering camp lifted their spirits, and that evening, Leo walked to the Zeus cabin with a pair of Nike's. He knocked on the door. 'Jay Jay? I got your shoes. Sorry I took them. But on the bright side, they have a disco and a robot mode now!' He said. Jason came out of his cabin. 'Thanks, Lee. Here are your nails.' Jason gave him his nails back. 'Thanks, Jason,' Leo said. 'So, eh... how do you activate the Disco setting?' Jason innocently asked. 'Well, you push this button,' Leo explained. Jason pushed it, and an ocean of light danced around their feet. 'Cool!' Jason said. 'Sleep tight, Jay Jay,' Leo said. 'Bye, Lee.' They hugged, and Leo walked back to his cabin in a way better mood.


	24. Leo's April Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo has a special way of celebrating April Fools.

Leo didn't know how he did it, but he did it. He had made a modification to his belt. That being, that on april fools, all the tools in his belt were made of lego. He was going to see how the rest of the camp reacted.  
'Leo, can you give me a hammer?' Halley asked. 'Yes, I can!' Leo said, and he danced towards her. Halley rolled her eyes. Leo was always pretty dramatic. Leo pulled something out of his belt. It was a hammer, made from hundreds different kinds of lego. Halley got it from his hand. She smacked it against a nail, and the hammer broke apart into a bunch of blocks. 'What the? Leo! What's this? Why did you make it?' 'April fools!' Leo screamed. He danced out of the room, while Halley was screaming to him.  
Hey, Lee, do you have anything to eat?' Jason walked towards Leo. Leo smirked. 'Sure, Jay Jay.' He reached into his belt, and got a perfect replica of a hamburger out of his belt. 'Wow. You can just get fast food from the belt. How do you do it?' Leo shrugged. 'I don't know,' he said, while getting a little space between himself and Jason. Jason bit in the lego, and spat it out. 'Glap! Lee! Why?' Jason cried out. 'April fools!' Leo sang, and he danced away.  
'Leo, have you seen my lipstick?' Calypso asked. 'No, but maybe I got something in here!' Leo happily said. He knew it was stupid to annoy Calypso, but he gave her a lipstick made of tiny Lego's. Calypso gave it a weird look. 'You sure that this is a lipstick?' 'Of course, Cal.' 'This is made from Lego.' Leo went silent. 'Yes. Yes it is.' 'How many people have fallen into the trap?' Calypso raised her eyebrows. 'Two. You didn't. You would have been the third.' Leo smiled. 'Leo, maybe you should stop with this. It could go really wrong, you know.' Leo kissed her on the cheek. 'Yes. But, no,' he ran away, while Calypso smacked her head against her hands.  
'Percy! Percy, do you want to sea the seashell I found?' Leo screamed. Percy gave him a weird look. 'Erm, yes, that's good Leo. Show me.' Leo snickered and gave Percy a beautiful shell, all made out of lego. Percy looked at it. 'This is the shell? I don't recognise it. Wait, I'll ask my dad!' Percy dived into the ocean. Leo almost fell onto the floor, roaring with laughter.  
Yet, he stopped laughing as soon as Percy and Poseidon raised above the ocean. They stopped in front of Leo. Leo swallowed. 'Nice lego,' Poseidon said. 'T-thanks, lord,' Leo murmured. 'Let me reward you for your work,' Poseidon said. He and Percy smirked. They lifted a giant wave, and smacked Leo into the sand.  
'This hurts.' 'I wouldn't know how that feels, Leo,' Jason laughed. 'You don't have to laugh!' Leo whined. 'That's for the hamburger. And the surfing incident.' 'That was two weeks ago! Are you still going on about that?' Leo cried. Jason smiled. 'I'll never stop about that.' Leo got a sour expression and kept silent for the rest of april fools.


	25. The Camp Christmas Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice Christmas party in Camp Jupiter. What more do you want?

Annabeth and Reyna toasted with their chocolate milk. 'Merry christmas!' They said at once. They laughed. The praetors of New Rome and Chiron had set up an agreement. All the campers of Camp Half-blood had been transported to camp Jupiter, and were know celebrating Christmas with all of their siblings. Laughs where heard everywhere. The Demeter, Ceres, Dionysus and Bacchus kids had made snacks for the rest of the camps. The highlight of the evening was a huge christmas tree. It was 100 metres high, and every demigod had brought a decoration to put into the tree.  
Chiron was talking to Reyna and Frank, about the wellbeing of the camps. Frank jokingly said that this christmas party was the best thing that has happened to the camp in years. He blushed when Reyna and Chiron agreed, and mumbled that he was going to seek Hazel. The girl laughed and kissed his cheek when she heard it. Hazel took a bite of chocolate, and smiled. The pulling of her teeth had hurt, but it had been necessary. Percy was running around camp, with his baby sister cooing in his arms. He had begged his mom to let him show her to the roman demigods. After he had promised on the river Styx to bring her back by nine 'O'clock, it was allowed. Annabeth was walking by his side, beaming with joy.  
At nine 'O'clock, a bell sounded. A lot of Greek demigods left, to celebrate Christmas with their own relatives. The gates of New Rome opened, and the relatives of the Roman demigods hugged their children, grandchildren and other relatives. Percy kissed Annabeth on her cheek, and went back to his mother's house. He arrived on half past nine, and got scolded by his mother for being irresonsible with his baby sister. In the meantime, the party went on.  
On ten 'O clock, suddenly the clouds opened. The Olympians arrived in camp, for the first time in years. Some were in their Roman forms, other in the greek version. Jupiter was Roman, because he felt powerful in that form. Poseidon was Greek, for the same reason as Zeus. Amphitrite was with him. Juno was Roman, because of her husband. Ceres thought it was easier to be Roman in a Roman camp. Hades was opposing Ceres, and Persephone/Proserpina constantly shifted. Athena was in Greek form, because she didn't have any Roman demigod children. Mars was Roman, since Mars was highly important for the Romans. Apollo was being Apollo, and Artemis was Greek for her hunters. With Aphrodite/Venus, you couldn't tell who she was. She talked to all of her children simultaneously, and didn't change a single time. Vulcan was Roman for the same reason as Ceres, and so was Mercury. Dionysus was greek because his wife didn't have a Roman side, and he wasn't going to give up spending time with her for a few campers. The other, minor gods were walking around in the forms they were created in. Janus was Roman, Hecate was Greek, and so forth.  
Leo was jumping around in Camp Jupiter. He constantly checked if all the lights were still in the right place, if the coffee machines were still working, and if all the other technology still worked. His siblings kept telling him to relax, but he couldn't. Calypso tried to sit him down, but he didn't want to. For some reason, he was restless. His brain kept flipping back and forth between happiness and sadness. He couldn't explain why. 'You're restless, aren't you?' He heard a voice say behind him. Leo turned around, and saw his dad standing there. He nodded. Vulcan nodded as well. 'I understand. Try to be a bit more relaxed, ok? I don't really like company either, but you can't work forever. Believe me.' He sipped his cup of coffee and walked away. Leo stood there for a while, until Calypso walked up to him again. She hugged him, and Leo hugged her back. He smiled. Piper and Jason ran past them, holding hands, laughing like they would never let each other go.  
After the party was over, Annabeth went over to Percy's house. Estelle was already asleep, so the two of them decided to watch a movie. 'That was pretty fun,' Percy murmured and he yawned. Annabeth giggled. 'Yes,' she said to Percy, who had fallen asleep on her shoulder.


	26. Percy's Princess Demands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Percy is a princess, he has some demands.

Annabeth walked into Chiron's office. 'Chiron, be prepared. I couldn't stop him.' She looked behind her back and walked away. Chiron sighed. Percy was probably doing something dumb. He had been pretty silent after the great princess-coming out, but everyone knew that couldn't stay forever. After a few minutes, Chiron heard something fall in the hall. He heard it getting back up. A sound like wheels thudded on the ground. Chiron sighed, and prepared for whatever was about to happen. The door opened, and Percy rolled inside on a pair of blue roller skates. 'Chiron, my mentor,' he said, no, announced, 'I need to tell you something.' Chiron sighed, but smiled at Percy. 'What is it, Percy?' He asked, friendly. 'As you know, I am a princess.' Chiron nodded. 'So, I decided I need some special princess needs.' Chiron's smile faded. 'That means?' He asked. Percy looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes. 'I would say that I want my own cabin and table, but I already have those. So I want a throne at my table, and everyone should address me with 'Your highness.' Chiron went silent. 'That's it?' He asked, with a weird expression. Percy looked at him and pulled in a chair. 'Well, what more is there to being royal?' He asked. 'This was sort of meant as an April fools' prank...' he said. Chiron laughed. 'You don't really know what luxury is like, huh, Percy? You know, I've had demigods coming in and making those demands for real. And they got far more demanding than you just did as well.' Percy looked at him, with a weird expression. Than he smiled. 'So, can I get a throne at my table? And can everybody call me 'your highness' for a day? Since I'm clearly not the worst of persons...'He asked innocently. 'Well, maybe that's a little...' 'just a little? Okay, I'll tell everyone, then!' Percy laughed and walked out of the big house. Chiron sighed. April fools was always a weird day in Camp Half-Blood.


	27. The Great Nerf-war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a nerf-war going on in camp Half-blood.

Percy looked around the corner. He felt the adrenaline running through his veins. He held his NERF-gun in his hands. He couldn't find Piper. He was sure he saw her duck away behind the Aphrodite-cabin. Yet, he saw nothing. He peeked into the cabin, but suddenly felt something on his shirt. He felt his sides, and a bright orange dart was hanging on his shirt. He turned around, and saw Piper peeking around the Artemis cabin. He screamed and went after her. 'Piper! Why would you get me?' He screamed loudly. 'I had my entire life still before me!' He cried. 'Percy, you are a huge dramaqueen! I had never thought that of you! I couldn't life further knowing you weren't what I thought you would...' she screamed, while Annabeth shot a dart straight onto her chest. She fell to the ground. 'Annabeth! How could you? I thought...' piper couldn't finish her sentence. The Stoll brothers jumped around the corner, and started to fire on all free heroes with a water gun. 'This is a NERF-war! You guys cheat!' Piper screeched. The Stolls laughed maniacally. Suddenly, Jason flew down from the Athena cabin, and charged the Stolls. They ran away, as quickly as possible, with orange darts hanging from their clothes. Piper, Percy and Annabeth clapped, but quickly stopped as soon as Jason started targeting them. They all screamed and ran away, towards the lake. A few Ares kids saw them running, and they got shot from left and right. In a panic, Piper flung herself into the lake. She went under the water, and swam to the bottom. She stayed there until she couldn't hold her breath anymore. Piper went above the water surface, only to be attacked with NERF-darts from the sky by Jason. She dove under again. From the corner of her eye, she saw the entire demigod population of Camp Half-blood running around shooting, throwing and attacking with whatever they had. She saw one of the Aphrodite kids attack a daughter of Tyche with a pink teddy bear. An Apollo child was being attacked by a Hecate son, with a fake Harry Potter wand. Katie Gardner was throwing a plastic plate at someone who was running away faster than lightning. Piper climbed out of the lake, only to be pushed into it immediately by Will and Annabeth. She grabbed both of their wrists, and they went down with her. Piper swam straight forward, back into the middle of the lake. She looked around, scanning the area. She got an idea, swam to the side of the lake where the strawberry fields started. She got out of the lake and ran through the fields. She realized she was ruining some of the strawberry plants, but didn't care in the moment. She saw a few kids coming towards her, and fell down on the ground, with her NERF-gun in front of her. The kids ran towards the lake, not knowing of the danger in front of them. Piper jumped up, screamed and shot them with darts. The kids screamed, but stopped after seven darts. Piper blushed. Her darts were gone. She dropped the NERF-gun and ran away. The kids followed her, and a plastic UFO was thrown past Piper's head. After they had left the strawberry fields, Piper turned around and smiled her most enchanting smile. 'People, stop, okay?' She charmspoke. The kids stopped and stood still. Piper took the opportunity and ran as quick as possible, only to be picked up by Jason. 'Jay Jay! Stop!' She screamed. Jason laughed. From the sky, she could oversee the battlefield. She saw that satyrs and nymphs had joined in. Water Guns and water balloons were being thrown around. Only a few NERF-guns where still in the war. Heroes where throwing about everything. She saw sandwiches and dictionaries being thrown around. Piper sighed. They were going to be fighting until... a horn sounded. Dinnertime. Everyone dropped their stuff, and the war stopped. Jason put Piper down, in front of the pavilion. The children sat down, and waited for Chiron to tell everyone they could eat while Mr. D read through the announcements and Poseidon and Athena already ate up half of their food. Yet, all of them were absent. After ten minutes they were still nowhere to be seen. They waited forty minutes, and then Connor Stole decided to go check to Big House. There was nobody at first glance. Against the rules, he walked upstairs. Most of the doors were open, accept three bedrooms. Connor sighed, and walk downstairs again. He walked up to the pavilion. 'I think they are hiding. I declare dinnertime.' Everyone looked at each other, and just started eating. At least they had some quiet away from the staff right now.


	28. The Aphrodite cabin Prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite's children decide to play a prank on camp Half-blood.

The Aphrodite kids looked around in their cabin. There were ribbons, buttons, glitter, chalk, stickers and more sparkly stuff everywhere on the floor, the beds, the tables and in the closets. They smiled at each other, and packed it all up into their bags. Michell set an alarm clock at 4.30 A.M., and they all went to sleep.  
The alarm went off exactly when they wanted to. Everyone got out of the cabin, with their bags full of goodies. They walked towards the pavilion. Nobody was there yet. As quickly as possible, they started to throw glitter everywhere. Every table got at least one ribbon, and they drew pictures with chalk on every table and on the floor. After they were done, they realized that they used not even a quarter of their stuff. Aphrodite's children looked at each other, and they all smiled. They walked up to the Big House. First, they gave the outside of the house the same makeover as the pavilion. Lacy drew a huge pony on the wall, and three of her sisters glued glitter to it. Then, Drew got a key out of her pocket. The other kids looked at her with big eyes. Drew shrugged and opened the door. The door creaked, and Drew stopped. She swung it open. All the children walked into the big room. They kept silent, and waited if they heard anything upstairs. It was silent. They got to work. They used chalk on the floor and the tables. Mitchell threw glitter all over the grapevines growing on the walls. A girl called Luna threw a magic bath bomb into the hearth. It exploded, and the hearth burned with beautiful colours (there was also soap on the walls, and the grapevines clearly didn't like it, seeing at how they grew away from it). Seymour the panther woke up and growled, but one of the boys quickly threw him a piece of sausage. The panther head yawned, and fell asleep again. Someone coughed upstairs, and the children froze. They heard someone stumble around upstairs, and open the tub. A glass fell upon the floor. They heard someone curse upstairs. The person walked back to their room, and it went silent. The children all breathed out at the same time. The quickly got out of the Big House. Drew locked the door again. They looked in their bags. Their was still stuff over. 'The stables,' Daniel said. They swiftly tip-toed over to the stables. They did the same thing to the stables as they had done to the pavilion and the big house. It was a colourful work of art. Suddenly, the face of the smallest boy lid up. He walked into the stables, and went up to a small pegasus called Bubblegum. He got a few stickers and ribbons out of his bag, and dressed up the pegasus. He also grabbed a pink piece of chalk, and made the pony look pink. Luna walked into the stables. 'Dave! What are you doing? Bubblegum looks like a My Little Pony!' She cried. Dave froze. 'Sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to...' they heard a shriek behind them. Drew, Allyn and David saw Bubblegum and also got chalk and stickers out of their bags. After half an hour, all the pegasi looked like My Little Pony's. 'It's six O'clock! Mitchell whispered. They all got out of the stables and walked back to their cabin. They immediately cleaned up the last left-overs of glitter, ribbon, stickers and their bags. They put on new, clean clothes and waited until the horn for breakfast sounded.  
As soon as it sounded, Aphrodite's children walked to breakfast as usual. They tried to act surprised, but they all started to laugh as soon as they saw the surprised faces of the other campers and the tired expressions of their camp staff. Chiron galloped over to them. 'You've modelled up the big house, and the pavilion. Are there any more places you've given a makeover which we should know about?' The Aphrodite children looked at each other. 'Maybe?' Mitchell said. Chiron looked very tired. 'Stables,' Lacy whispered. Chiron called Mr. D over and they walked away. The Aphrodite kids stared at each other, and quietly sat down. At least the prank worked good.


	29. Trampoline Adrift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, a water trampoline appears in the lake in the middle of camp.

Somebody, and it is still unknown who, had thrown a huge inflatable trampoline in the middle of the lake. It was adrift, and so big that half of the campers could jump on it at once. Chiron and Dionysus had decided it wasn't worth it to try and get it out of the water, and the campers were happy and occupied with it, so they kept it there. Also, some pretty entertaining stuff happened with it.  
While some campers were bouncing on it, a wasp decided to take a look. It was a pretty big wasp, yet first the campers didn't notice it. When one did notice it, it was already sitting on her arm. She screamed the most high pitched scream the camp had ever heard, and launched herself into the lake. People got out in battle armour from cabins and workplaces everywhere. The other trampoline children looked at the place the girl had jumped from. Another child saw the wasp. They screamed to, and jumped into the lake as well. More and more people on the trampoline noticed the wasp, and all jumped into the lake. All, except for one Ares boy. He charged towards the wasp, and smacked it with his thumb. The wasp died instantly, while all the other children cheered.  
Another time, Annabeth and some of her siblings had claimed the trampoline and were jumping around on it. Yet, one dock spider remembered what had happened to Arachne, and decided to avenge her. It walked over the water, and glided onto the trampoline. The Athena kids didn't see it, as they were too busy trying to be the king or queen of the trampoline. Annabeth was winning, when the spider ran towards her. It climbed up her leg. She saw it, screamed even louder than the girl from the wasp had done, and catapulted herself into the lake. The spider let go, while Annabeth swam to the bottom of the lake as quickly as she possibly could. The other Athena kids swam towards the shore in a tempo not a lot of people could reach, but fear drove them forward. Annabeth felt something on the bottom of the lake. She looked around, and saw her boyfriend staring at her (Percy sometimes sunk to the bottom of the lake to think about things, like the meaning of life and pizza bagels, death and hot pockets, and Cyborgs and blue pizza bagels). He smiled and formed a bubble around them. They drifted towards the surface, while Annabeth held her boyfriend for dear life.  
The Demeter children were hungry once, and decided to go have a picnic on the trampoline. At first, it went pretty well. They had brought good food, and they weren't with much, so the trampoline wouldn't sink. Yet, at some point Katie decided to annoy Meg. It didn't go so well. Meg got angry, and pushed Katie into the lake. Yet, Katie held on the her sister's wrists, so that Meg also tumbled into the water. Their sister and brother looked down at them, while they were coughing in the water. Miranda hung over the edge to much, and fell into the lake as well. Only their brother was still on the trampoline. The sisters were going to change that. They were rocking the trampoline back and forth, until their brother fell of. They all gasped as a wave of water went over them.  
After these three fiasco's, Chiron and Dionysus decided to put out some rules. Nobody was to eat on the trampoline, and if you were afraid of bugs or arachnids, it was at your own risk if you got hurt. But, the trampoline stayed afloat, and is still in camp to this day.


	30. Son Of Athena, Goddess of olives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hudson is a son of Athena. As such, he has a pretty intense love for olives.

Hudson was one of Athena's sons. He came from greece, where his father grew olives. He took over his father's weird liking of olives. After some time, Hudson decided that he wanted an olive garden in Camp Half-Blood as well. He had learned a lot about growing plants from his dad, and knew that the most fertile soil in camp was the soil where the Demeter and Dionysus children grew the strawberries. Without thinking about it, he went to the strawberry fields and started to pull some out. He planted two olive trees in the empty space, and walked away. The next day, when he went to water his olive trees, he saw six very angry demigods looking at him. Hudson recognized the four children of Demeter and the daughter and son of Dionysus. 'What have you done to our strawberries?' Katie Gardner asked. Hudson shrugged. 'There are still hundreds of strawberries left, and these are the only olive trees,' he said. 'Those strawberries also feel things! Why didn't you ask us for a place in the fields?' Miranda asked. 'Because you wouldn't have agreed!' The children considered this. 'Maybe not, but Chiron might let you plant the olives somewhere else?' Logan, the Demeter-boy, suggested. Hudson shook his head and folded his arms. 'My olive-tree is not going to move. I have the entire rest of my cabin to back me up!' He jumped up, and ran away from the other campers, towards his own cabin.  
'I need help!' He screamed. Hudson's siblings looked at him. 'With what? Is there a spider?' Malcolm asked. 'No! But, I planted a few olives in the strawberry fields, and the Demeter and Dionysus kids want to remove them!' Hudson cried. The other Athena children stood up. 'We'll look,' they said.  
The entire Athena cabin walked up to the strawberry fields, where the six other demigods were trying to help to torn out strawberry back to health. 'Why can't Hudson have his olives?' One Athena girl screamed. 'He didn't ask and pulled out a few of our strawberries!' Katie Gardner answered. 'How terrible. A few of your plants are gone. Yet, a few others are back. Doesn't that mean there are just as much plants as before?' The Athena girl said. 'No! You hurt the strawberries!' Logan screamed. The Athena girl grabbed her sword. 'Get away from the olives!' She screeched. The six children looked at her, while the plants grew around their ankles and wrists. The other Athena kids also grabbed their weapons, and the six slowly walked away.  
'The strawberries will wither. And what do we do then? Growing olives takes ages! The other gods might get jealous of Athena! There might come a war!' Miranda remenised. 'I don't think it'll come to that. I don't think Chiron will find taking away all the strawberries a good idea, either,' Meg said. 'I still think they could've asked,' Katie muttered. 'I find it weird that Chiron hasn't noticed yet...' Pollux began, when Chiron came galloping over to them. 'What are the olive trees doing in the fields?' He asked. 'Hudson, one of Athena's sons, planted them,' Sheila answered. Chiron sighed. 'That's why they were so protective of them,' he mumbled. He looked at the six children. 'I gave them permission to have these two olives trees. If they grow more, your parents might start to bicker with Athena, and we can't have the gods having a fight over some plants.' The six demigods nodded, and Chiron walked away.  
The Athena kids stayed very protective of Hudson and his olive trees, and they sometimes got nasty stares from the Demeter and Dionysus cabin. There was still peace in Camp Half-Blood and on Olympus, but you could feel tension in the air.


	31. Lets' Find Waldo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Leo need to get out of camp...

Leo and Jason had another one of their plans. The only block in their way was that they needed permission for doing this. And both boys knew they wouldn't get it. Neither Chiron nor Dionysus would ever give them permission for what they wanted to do. So, they needed a cover. They decided that they just wanted to go and start their plan, so they went to the big house and decided to improvise. Luckily, only Chiron was in there. He saw more thinks as valid reasons to go on quests than Dionysus did. Jason and Leo walked up to Chiron's desk, and looked him straight in the eye. Chiron sighed. He already knew something was going to go wrong. 'Yes, Leo and Jason, what is it that you want?' He asked. Leo and Jason stood there for ten seconds, thinking about what they were going to say. It began to get awkward, so just before Chiron was about to break the silence and send them away, Leo blurted out: 'Chiron, we need to go find Waldo!' Jason looked at him like he was crazy. Chiron smile faded slightly. Yet, Leo kept a smile on his face. 'Waldo?' Chiron asked. 'I don't think I've ever heard of any boy, or girl, or non-binary child, with that name in camp. I don't suppose you mean the man from the books, right, Leo?' Chiron folded his arms and looked at Leo. Leo swallowed. 'Well, that's why we need to find him! He is an, eh, new demigod?' Jason mumbled. 'How do you know of Waldo?' Chiron asked. 'That implies that you two were out of camp without permission.' 'No!' Leo screamed. 'Sorry, Chiron,' he said after that. 'But, we heard it via Iris message!' 'And, er... Hazel, was Iris messaging us!' Jason blurted out. 'Hazel? Why didn't she bring the child to camp Jupiter?' Chiron started to sound annoyed. 'Because he's greek! You can't just put him in the wrong camp, Chiron!' Jason said, nodding knowingly. 'You've been here pretty long, Jason.' 'The power of love!' Jason added. 'Do you know how Waldo looks?' Chiron asked, with a smirk. 'Striped shirt, round glasses, brown hair and a silly hat!' Leo blurted out. Jason looked at him, panicking. 'That sounds familiar, somehow,' Chiron said. He was about to burst out laughing. Jason went further: 'He has a really silly hat, you know! Even sillier than Hermes' hat!' 'I don't think the lord of messengers would like you to criticize his hat.' 'But, well, the point is, it isn't like Waldo from the where's Waldo books!' Jason started to sweat. This was going absolutely nowhere. If they had just prepared, he knew that he and Leo would have been out of the Big House ages ago. Chiron stared at his pencil, like he was thinking hard. 'You know, I am not sure you two really want to go find a new demigod called Waldo. Maybe I should ask Mr. D if he wants to decide...' 'NO!' Leo and Jason yelled in union. 'Like, erm, we also need to find Percy! Who's dressed like Waldo! In Sydney!' Leo screeched. Chiron sighed. 'So Percy. And is he dressed like Waldo from Where's Waldo, or as Waldo the new demigod?' Jason and Leo bit their lips, but Chiron smiled. 'Did you two need a cover because you wanted to go to MacDonald's and do something in New York, but you didn't prepare?' He asked. The boys nodded. 'This one time, you two can go to New York. Just, don't blow up the Empire State Building, send lighting to the Chrysler Building or set the Statue of Liberty on fire, good?' The boys nodded. 'Thanks, Chiron,' Jason said. Chiron smiled at them. 'Don't forget about Waldo and Percy, okay?' He winked. The demigods walked out of the office. When they were outside, they cheered. Jason picked up Leo, and together they flew to New York.  
In New York, they got an Iris Message from Hazel. The boys almost choked on their burgers. 'Hello guys, I was just going to ask you...' 'is there a demigod called Waldo and do we have to find him?' Leo and Jason said. Hazel gave them a weird look. 'No, I was going to ask you two if you could help with Frank's birthday party, but if you two are busy...' 'No, tell us everything!' Leo quickly said, while he took another big bite out of his cheap, well-earned hamburger.


	32. Ceberus Needs Excercise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico is in the underworld, where he meets a small gang of former friends. They decide to give the Underworlds' biggest puppy some excercise.

Nico was in the Underworld. And he was bored. The underworld was a gloomy place, and there was not much to do. He sighed, and decided to take a walk to Elysium. The ghosts around the castle didn't really pay attention to him, and it took him twenty minutes to walk to the gated community. The place was like a never-ending party. He looked around. The people had fun, but they didn't really see him. He walked through Elysium with a bored expression on his face. 'Nico! Nico!' Somebody suddenly screamed. He turned around. He saw Silena Beauregard, sitting next to her boyfriend. In front of them sat to other demigods. One of them smiled - it was Lee Fletcher, the Apollo child who died in the battle of the labyrinth. Nico didn't recognize the other one. Silena waved to him, and he walked up to the group of four. He sat down next to Silena, who suddenly had a concerned expression on her pretty face. 'Did you die as well?' She asked. 'No,' Nico replied, 'I am just visiting my father and I got bored. So I decided to take a walk.' Silena nodded, and so did Beckendorf and Lee. The fourth boy looked at him. 'You are a child of Hades? Did he break his vow as well or did I miss something?' He asked. Nico looked at him weird. 'I thought most people knew that I was a child of Hades. When did you die? It can't be in the battle of the labyrinth, since I used skeletons there...' 'I did die during that battle. Maybe I died to early.' The boy looked kind of sad. Nico coughed. 'Well, I might have an idea. It might be a bit against the rules, but it might be entertaining. So, what if we took Cerberus for a walk in the Underworld?' Nico looked at the other, dead demigods with a weird smile on his face. Selena's face lit up. She clapped in her hands. 'Yes! That will be funny! You guys are coming too, right?' She looked at the boys with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could make. That wasn't necessary, because all of them almost nodded their heads of. The boy Nico hadn't recognized stood up and shaked his hands. 'My name's Castor, son of Dionysus. You sound fun. Let's go to your father's dog.' The other three got up, and Nico took them to the entry of the underworld.  
Cerberus was still sitting in his usual place, being as scary as ever. But when he saw Nico, he barked happily. The barking was so loud that the roof shook. A few ghosts screamed, but Nico didn't pay attention to them. 'Aren't you four scared?' He asked the four demigod's behind him. They gave him weird looks. 'Nico, we are already dead,' Lee Fletcher reminded him. 'Right,' Nico said. He walked towards Cerberus. 'Now, don't speak or walk to loud. If the judges notice us, the entire plan will go wrong. He nodded towards the judges of death: Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus. 'They look kind of scary,' Lee said. Nico nodded. 'They are scary.' He got a leesh of the wall behind them, and climbed on Cerberus's back. He hooked the leesh on it's hook, and slided down Cerberus's back. 'Don't worry, the leesh is magical,' he whispered. He put his hand against the wall, and a secret door opened. He waved to his friends. They all stepped through the door, and stepped out in another underworld meadow. 'This is Cerberus's walking park,' Nico explained. The dead demigods gulped. It was bigger than all of their villa's in Elysium combined. It was almost bigger than the entirety of Elysium. Nico let go of the leash, and Cerberus ran around like a puppy. Nico sat down. His four friends did the same. 'She is always a little wild. It's all save, though. Nothing can happe...' out of nowhere, Hades appeared. The four dead souls screamed, and Hades cut his son of: 'Nico, what are you doing with these four ghosts and with my dog?' He screamed, with flames in his eyes. Nico kept a poker face. 'I was walking Cerebus so you don't have to do it. And you should be the one to understand that the underworld gets a bit boring on one's own. That's why I got these four spirits of other demigod's to accompany me.' Hades looked at his tiny-for-his-age son. 'Hmm. I suppose you're right.' He looked at his dog. 'But he had enough exercise.' Hades clapped in his hands. Suddenly, Cerberus was back in his place, and Nico was standing in the throne room, with Silena, Beckendorf, Lee and Castor behind him. 'Go to your room. And take your friends with you, because I don't want you to be lonely and attempt dangerous things. Nico walked to his room, followed by the ghosts. He turned around and looked at them. 'So. You guys have something interesting to tell?' Nico asked, as he fell down on his bed.


	33. Trick-Or-Treating isn't a game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seven map out their Halloween plan.

Percy got a map from under his clothes, and presented it to Frank and Jason. 'Okay guys, I have mapped out the whole neighbourhood. There are four houses who hand out big candy, and I know of six houses who have milky ways and Mars bars.' 'Not funny, Percy,' Frank said. 'You're wrong, that was very funny. Now. We start at my house, and than start walking to the right. We don't go to Mrs. Tell's, Mrs. Reeds and the houses of the Carren's or the McTails. They don't give out candy. Mr. Mattel gives out apples, so if anybody once to go there, be my guest. Now. Let's go get us some candy!' Percy jumped up, almost falling over in his fish-costume. Jason stood right behind him, as superman. Frank stood up last. He was dressed as a bear. Percy picked up his six-month-old sister, and put her in her buggy. His mother came in from the kitchen. 'Percy, will you promise to be really careful with Estelle? And no rowdiness!' 'No, mom. We are with seven people. Nothing can happen with Estelle!' Sally nodded, clearly not convinced. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Percy opened the door. Hazel, Piper, Leo and Annabeth were standing in front of the door. 'You got a plan?' Annabeth, who was dressed like Athena, asked her boyfriend. 'I do, I do!' He said. 'Great.' Jason and Frank came from the hall. Frank was pushing Estelle, who was happily giggling in her buggy. Sally and Paul waved the eight children goodbye. They already had their own bowls with big candy ready.  
As Percy had said, they went right. The first three houses went okay. The neighbours saw baby Estelle and the fourteen-year-old Hazel (and they saw Leo, who was particularly Young-looking and short). They gave the others candy as well, because that was nice. The fourth house didn't give Frank or Percy any candy. 'You two are clearly to old for this,' Mr. Joe said. Percy rolled his eyes as soon as the door closed. 'How amazing. I am only seventeen! Come on!' Piper (dressed as a robot) giggled. 'To bad, Percy,' she said. Percy did a hair flip. Hazel gave Frank some of her candy, and they walked further. Sadly, one of the houses with big candy was just as bad as Mr. Joe. Yet, Percy got such a sour expression that the neighbour gave him a bag of gummy bears. At seven 'o clock, Estelle began to cry. Jason picked her up, out of her buggy. He wrapped up the buggy, and put it under his arms. He flew away, with the infant in his arms. He knocked on Mrs. Jackson's door. She picked Estelle from his arms, he bowed and than flew away. He landed in front of his friends. 'We've done one house without you,' Piper announced. 'I trusted you people.' 'Bad choice, apparently.' Jason rolled his eyes, and they went further. They went through the rest of the neighbourhood without much trouble.  
Yet, when they walked back, something appeared in front of them. 'This is a shadow-travel free place!' Percy screeched. Nico looked at him with a dry expression, and he shadow travelled away. Once they reached Percy's house, they sat down and threw all their candy on the floor. 'I totally got the most!' Piper boasted. 'No way, Pipes,' Leo cried. 'Silent! Estelle is sleeping!' Sally said, while walking into the room. The teenagers rolled their eyes and boasted further, except for Hazel. She didn't think she had collected the most candy, even though she did.


	34. The Heat Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever been extremely hot?

It was hot in Camp Half-Blood. Not casually, 'oh, It's slightly hotter than usual,' but not-being-able-to-do-anything-all-day-every-day hot. This usually wasn't possible. Dionysus and Chiron almost always kept the weather-shield up, and it didn't let in a lot of heat, the same way it didn't let through a lot of snow, rain and cold. Yet, both of them were called to Olympus of a week, because Zeus detected a dangerous force somewhere in Belgium. So, it became unreasonable hot. Piper was fanning herself with an old English fan. It looked like it came straight from the eighteenth century, and it was as big as her whole face. She didn't try to walk a lot. She was scared she would melt while she stood up. The problem was that she got thirsty, and not drinking anything would be suicide with this temperature. She slowly got up. Her body was still in one piece, luckily. She turned to the right, trying to walk in the shadows as much as possible. She thanked the gods that the Dionysus and Demeter cabin were both on her side of the cabins. She waddled over to the Dionysus cabin. On the veranda, under the grapevines, both the Dionysus and Demeter children were sitting. It was pretty obvious that they were sitting, because if you did anything else you would melt immediately. Piper fell down in front of them. They looked at her with tired expressions. 'Is orange juice okay?' Pollux mumbled. His voice cracked half way through the sentence. Piper gave him one nod. He gave her a singled glass and almost fell down. The Demeter children looked at the display and slowly blinked. Piper drank the glass up in one shug. She was still very thirsty, but it was a little, teeny, tiny bit less. 'Thanks. I can't get up. Can I stay here?' The Other demigods slowly nodded. Piper sighed and stayed in her position, with her fan on her face and lying dramatically on the floor.  
Leo was sitting in the Hephaestus cabin, alone in a corner. The other children were hanging around in their own corners, sitting as frozen as they possibly could. Their airco's were blowing at full power, but it wasn't enough. Suddenly, an Iris-message popped up. Hazel's face appeared. She was dripping wet, but behind her the sun was shining. She smiled. 'Hello Leo! Did you also she the rainstorm? We are all dripping wet! Luckily, it's not so hot.' Leo looked at her. A single tear made its way down his cheek. Hazel gave him a confused look. 'So hot, Hazel,' he murmured, 'You don't understand what we would give for rain.' Hazel giggled nervously, and broke the connection. 'Guys, I think they need some time. Jupiter isn't done with the extreme weather after all,' she announced to camp Jupiter.  
Annabeth was on the floor of her cabin. Her siblings and she had given up trying to find a way to get cooler. Her head laid on a book. She had tried to read, but it was even to hot for that. Suddenly, the door opened. Annabeth and her siblings groaned. 'close the door!' Malcolm said with a weak voice. The door closed. Annabeth turned her head. Nico and Will were hanging against the door. 'This isn't the Apollo cabin,' Will said severely. 'I don't need treatment for shadow traveling!' Nico cried. 'Yes you do. Why would you have travelled outside the cabin otherwise? Also, why is it so hot?' Will remarked. The entire Athena cabin moaned. 'The gods are having an argument, and Zeus is toying with the weather,' Annabeth mumbled, 'It has been unbearable for two days. Also, the Hephaestus cabin just Iris-messaged us. In Camp Jupiter they have had a crazy rainstorm.' Will looked at his boyfriend, and grabbed his bag. 'We got some water. I always take a lot of water to the Underworld. Hades clearly needs it. You guys want some water?' He asked. The Athena children got in front of them as quickly as they could. 'Yes, please!' The all yelled.  
Percy was sitting at the bottom of the lake, trying to think. It was still kind of cool at the bottom of the lake, but even there it was a bit hot. Percy sighed. He wondered how long Camp Half-blood would survive the heat wave. People hadn't died yet, but it Percy felt like they were waiting until that would happen. He closed his eyes, and suddenly heard something. It was like something tapping on the water. He felt a few cool drops in the water. He almost didn't dare to believe. He swam up to the shore. It was raining. It was actually raining. He heard someone scream above him. Jason was flying around above camp. 'Hello Percy! It rains!' He flew down and picked Percy up, bridal-style. They flew above camp. They saw the Demeter and Dionysus kids, screaming with joy in the strawberry fields. They were so happy that the suffered plants almost immediately regrew. The Athena and Hephaestus kids were jumping up and down, dancing in the rain, together with the Apollo children and even Nico. The other cabins quickly joined, as everyone was celebrating that the heat was gone. Eventually, Chiron and Dionysus came back. Seeing everyone being this happy after the heat wave, they decided to let it rain for a little longer (at least, that was mostly Chiron's motivation. Dionysus was also just worried about the strawberries).


	35. Shadow Travelling Food-service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will has an appetite for Sushi. Nico decides to get him some.

'Neeks, I am craving sushi! You don't understand how much!' Will exclaimed. He laughed, while he had his arm around his boyfriend. Nico had his head on Will's chest. Nico grumbled. 'Bad for you,' he mumbled. He turned away a little. Will rolled his eyes. 'You little grump,' he murmured. Nico stood up. 'Wait here,' he said. He ran away, towards the woods. He ran to a dark space, and walked towards it. He breathed deeply and stepped into it. He knew it was hard, but it should be possible to shadow travel all the way to Japan. He envisioned the entirely different culture as well as he possibly could. He stepped out of the shadows and opened his eyes. He did it. Nico had shadow travelled towards Japan. He grinned - he had known it was possible. Right after that thought, he passed out in a park.  
Nico opened his eyes again and looked around. He was in a hospital. He blinked - the light shining in his eyes was pretty, well, shiny. A nurse came towards him. She said something in Japanese - something Nico didn't understand. Out of confusion, he talked back to her in Italian. The nurse gave him a weird expression. After that, she walked out of the room. Nico sat up in the hospital bed. He rolled his eyes, stepped out of bed and put on his regular clothes. He walked back into the shadows, and disappeared again.  
He reappeared just outside the hospital, and made his way out. He didn't know how the mist would cover up that he was gone, or if the mist would even cover up that he was gone, but he had escapes and that was the most important thing right now. The second most important thing was finding a sushi-restaurant that would give him take-out. He felt in his pockets, and got a wallet out of there. He opened it, and grabbed a debit-card. He had gotten it from his father, who was the god of riches after all (Well, Hades wasn't, but Pluto was, and Pluto had given Hazel one. The girl had asked her dad for a debit-card for her brother as well). He ran towards a bus, praying to the gods that he could use the card in this far-off country. He got to the bus, and tried to order a ticket. He hoped that the busdriver understood him. He seemed to do, because he gave Nico a ticket. His debit card world, luckily. Once they entered the center of the city, the voice-over said something in English. That being: Welcome to the centrum of Osaka. Nico gulped. He wondered how he had travelled all the way to Osaka - hearing the name of the city made it feel more real, somehow. He got of the bus, and strolled around the city for a bit. It was gorgeous, but he didn't have time to look around - he needed to find sushi somewhere. Eventually, he found a place that sold it. He got inside. With a lot of difficulty, he ordered two portions of sushi. He sat down, and ate one of them. It tasted good - very good. After he ate the last bit, he stood up and walked into the loo with the second dish. He travelled into the shadows in there, and thought of Camp Half-blood as well as he could. He clutched the box to his chest, stepped out of the shadows and opened his eyes. He was in the forest of Camp Half-blood. He saw dark spots in front of his eyes, and he fell to his knees. He breathed heavily, trying to stay awake. When the dizzy feeling was gone, he stood up and walked out of the forest. He walked up to the hill. The sun was setting, and the sky looked red. Yet, Will was still on the hill, with a plaid and a ball of yarn. He was knitting something. Nico walked up to him, fell down next to him and gave him the box of sushi. Will looked at him with big eyes. 'Where did you get that from? You didn't travel all the way to Japan, didn't you?' Nico shrugged. 'Maybe.' Will shook his head and pulled Nico into a hug. 'I made you a scarf,' he mumbled. He put the black thing he had been knitting around Nico's neck, and Nico looked as happy as a puppy.


	36. Movie-Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seven decide to have a movie night.

The seven, Reyna, Nico and Will were all cuddled up on the couch. 'I declare this film evening officially open!' Annabeth called out. 'Annabeth, not to loud!' Her stepmother screamed from upstairs. 'Think about your brothers!' Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Do not worry,' she told her friends, 'We have permission from my father. Let's begin.' She walked to the kitchen and grabbed the popcorn from the microwave. 'What kind of popcorn is that?' Nico screamed. 'Salt!' 'And we don't have anything else?' 'No!' 'Okay! I am going to get MacDonald's for all of us!' The rest looked at him. 'What?' Piper asked. 'Shadow travel!' Nico ran to a shadowy corner. 'No way!' Will screamed. But Nico was already gone. Nico sighed. 'He'll get back. Let's start with a Disney film or something.' The rest nodded.  
Half way through Sleeping Beauty, Nico walked back into the room. 'Yo. I got MacDonald's. He said. 'Why are you watching Sleeping Beauty? That film is so sappy!' Will sighed again and pulled him down on the couch. 'Give me my hamburger with extra bacon.' The rest got their food as well. 'How did you know what we wanted?' Piper asked. 'I have Mac-senses,' he said. The rest decided not to react to that and keep watching Sleeping Beauty. When it was over, Reyna yawned. 'That was kind of boring.' Percy, Annabeth, Piper, the sunny couple and Leo agreed. Frank, Hazel and Jason looked at them with great offence. 'I liked it,' Jason said softly. 'Let's watch something better!' Piper yelled. The others cheered, while Piper put Scream into the dvd-player.  
'That was... interesting...' Percy said. 'It was great!' Nico and Piper said at once. Piper pulled Hazel into a hug. Hazel was shaking. 'It's fine,' Piper murmured. Hazel nodded, but didn't look so sure. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Tomorrow I am going to get a strong talking about that film. My stepmother hates horror movies.' Jason giggled, while he put a DVD into the DVD-player. 'I like this mushy stuff.' 'Jason, please not Titanic Piper sighed. Jason nodded. 'Yes, Titanic again!' He screeched. 'I like that film!' Will said, in the most sunny way possible. Nico mumbled something not so nice under the blanket. He cuddled up against Will, still.  
'Why is that film so mushy and why does it and so sad!?' Leo cried out. 'You like Titanic too?' Jason and Will asked happily. Leo nodded. 'I will not say I like it,' Piper muttered, 'but I might like it.' Jason hugged her. 'I knew it.' Percy and Annabeth were sitting against each other. 'It wasn't the most terrible movie I ever saw,' Percy said. Annabeth agreed. Hazel had fallen asleep (it was 2 a.m. By this point). Reyna yawned. 'Bo-ring!' She announced. 'I am going to fall asleep as well if we watch one more movie like this.' Percy looked at her, and didn't break eye-contact while he put Finding Nemo into the DVD-player. Reyna sighed loudly and cuddled up on the couch. She fell asleep before the film even started - the rest held on a little longer, bit before the film ended everyone was asleep.


	37. The 'Serious' Hunters of Artemis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunters of Artemis Always appear so cool. In reality, they are a lot less serious.

Most people in the Olympian world believed that the hunters of Artemis were the most serious girls in the world. This assumption was mostly based of how scary they were in battle, but was fuelled by the fact that Artemis mostly had a poker face, wasn't a drama queen (that she wasn't a drama queen was even more obvious when you put her next to her twin brother) and acted serious a lot of the time. Artemis liked to keep up this reputation - with the other Olympians and the campers. With her own hunters, she was may more relaxed. Because if this, things could get... weird.  
'Thalia, give me some of the marshmallows!' Carmelita (only her parents could call her that. The hunters called her Carmen). Yelled from the other side of the campfire all the hunters were crowded around. Thalia stood up. 'Catch!' She yelled back. Carmen caught the marshmallows without problem. 'Thanks!' 'No problem! Well, one problem. Now there are less marshmallows for me.' Thalia put another fluffy ball into her mouth. The rest of the hunters sighed. 'Sharing is caring, Thalia!' Mena said disapprovingly, while pulling the bag out of her hands. (Mena had been part of the hunt for thousands of years. She used to be a priestess of Artemis, back when). 'Maybe I don't care!' Thalia fired back. 'And give me the bag back!' 'Fight me for it!' 'It's on!' Mena and Thalia got up, and started a dance-off. Eventually, Mena won. She held the bag of Marshmallows above her head, holding it like the biggest prize she ever won in her three thousand seven hundred-and-some-more years. Thalia threw her hair back. 'You had much more time to build up experience!' She said. They heard a sigh. Artemis walked up to the campfire. 'Maybe you guys shouldn't do all this,' she said. The hunters shook their heads. 'You don't understand, they all said.  
Another time, they all decided to go take a shower. Artemis didn't do that in lakes anymore - instead, she went to a swimming pool. That way her hunters would have some fun in the meantime. Artemis pretty much hired the entire swimming pool, so that no man or none-hunter could come into the pool. The swimming pool she had chosen didn't have shower rooms with about ten showers, like a lot of pools have. They had apart shower cabins. All the hunters, with Artemis, jumped into the pool. After about half an hour, Artemis had had enough. She let her hunters sit inside the pool, and decided to go take a shower and eat something. She walked into the shower, not noticing that Thalia, Mena and Carmen snuck up outside of it. They knew Artemis had a habit of singing in the shower, and they wanted to hear that. Artemis always tried to fight against it, but it never worked. And, yes, after some time, she started singing 'singing in the shower' by Becky G. The three huntressed got through thirty seconds with laughing like crazy. After that, Mena let out a giggle. That was the start signal for all three of them to start laughing loudly. Artemis stopped singing, and opened the cabin with a towel around her body. 'Go away and never do that again!' She screamed. Thalia, Mena and Carmen ran away while still laughing their heads of. Artemis walked back into the cabin, and after a minute she started singing her song again.  
Going into battle was still something that broke the status quo. Thalia had been repairing her quiver once, so that she would have unlimited arrows again (Artemis' magic. Don't ask), when on of the girls screamed: 'Two hydra's!' From the other side of camp. Thalia grabbed the eight arrows she still had, and her bow as well, and ran towards the voice that had screamed. There were two huge hydra's, both with about twelve heads. Thalia aimed into the heart of one of them. She missed her first shot. She aimed a second time. It also missed. The third time, she shot right into its heart. The hydra screamed, as other arrows went in the same direction. 'Thalia, why do you have only eight arrows!?' One of the girls suddenly screamed. 'My quiver broke! Don't judge, Katrina!' 'Stay silent!' Artemis yelled. She ran onto the battlefield. She grabbed her own bow, and shot both the hydra's down with four arrows. The girls fell to the ground, panting. 'Sarah, who's idea was it again to pull an all nighter last night?' Thalia heard one of the girls say behind her.


	38. The Lion King, Now with demigods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A girl decides to give a musical, for all of camp half-blood.

'So. What do you all think?' Helena Lorenz asked the group of people she had collected. Helena Lorenz was a daughter of Apollo, claimed just one week ago. She was fourteen years old, and very ambitious. She had gotten a lot of musical talent from her dad, and at a young age she had became fascinated with musicals. As soon as she realized nobody had ever put on a musical in camp, she had made it her personal life-goal to change that. Now she was sitting in the Apollo cabin, with a white board behind her and the Entirety of the Apollo and the Dionysus cabin in front of her, and also a few Aphrodite, Athena and Hephaestus children - for costumes, decor and special effects. Helena knocked on the whiteboard with her pen. The demigods looked at each other. Will Solace nodded, and the rest followed. 'Helena?' Sheila asked. Helena nodded in her direction, only to realize that that wasn't going to work. 'Yes, Sheila?' Helena asked. 'Don't we need more actors? We are with thirteen people willing to act, fourteen if I can learn the movements and placements of props out of my head.' Helena chewed on her pen. 'We can hang a piece of paper on the doors of our cabins. Than people can register, and maybe we can get enough actors that way. 'Maybe we can try,' Sheila replied. 'Yes, we can. And we are going to do that tomorrow.' 'Isn't that a bit soon?' 'I've got the script worked out. My mother is an actual actress, and she worked with this script. Well, it is a simplified version of her script, but it is professionally made.' Everyone nodded to each other. This was going to be fun.  
They did try, and it worked. Of the two hundred forty six campers, one hundred eighty four put their names on the lists. 'We couldn't fit all of you into the Apollo cabin, or in the Dionysus cabin for that matter, so we collected all of you on this field.' Helena announced. 'We need thirty actors, a choir, dancers and a backstage crew. We will have auditions for roles, choirs and dancers tomorrow and if you want to be in the background crew, please go with Haley and Pollux. Campers formed lines to register for the different types of people on stage, and the auditions went perfectly.  
'Now, we have a actors, dancers and singers. I am surprised so many people want to help us put on a play which we ripped from a Disney film. As I believe the most of you understand, we will sing the songs from said film. It is expected that the choir will practise this song. You all will be lead by Will Solace and Suzy Karens, who will tell you when you need to sing. The dancers will be lead by Hunter and Kayla, and the actors are helped by Sheila and me. So, go and practise! We have exactly ten weeks to learn the entire thing, and then all of camp Jupiter and the people of our own camp who didn't help put up the musical will see it! Plus some citizens of New Rome! Chiron has told everybody!' Helena explained. The campers got up and walked over to their leaders, slightly panical.  
'How is everything going?' Helena asked Will. He smiled in her direction. 'It's going great! I have to admit, sometimes we get some help from Haley and Pollux. Did you know they can sing? They help us.' Helena nodded. 'Good. I am going to look how the dancers are doing.' She walked away. Most things were also okay with them, even though two demigods had sprained their ankles while trying to do a particulair move. Helena laughed, and walked back to the actors. Most actors knew all their lines. Helena and Sheila both played in the musical. Sheila had learned all of the positions of the props and the decors out of her head, and all actors had to stand in the same place every time - otherwise Sheila wouldn't know what she was doing. She didn't have a major role, so it hadn't been that hard.  
When Helena looked backstage, she saw that the Aphrodite children who weren't actors were all sewing costumes. The backstage crew had started four weeks earlier than the onstage performers. The Athena cabin was steadily painting the decors, and the Hephaestus children constantly came up with better and more spectacular special effects. Helena danced past the decors, almost bumping against Pollux on her way. 'Helena! Things are going pretty good here. We're almost finished with the decors and the costumes, and then we can start working on putting everything on stage in the right time. Most costumes only have to go through their last fitting, and then the Aphrodite cabin can focus on the make-up and hair departement.' Helena clapped in her hands. 'It's great!' She danced out of the backstage room (which was located in Bunker 9). That evening, she offered some of her food to all of the gods who had children helping with the performance - and some extra bits for Apollo and Dionysus, the gods who made up the concept of musical.  
The final performance was tomorrow, and today was the general repetition. Helena bit her lip. People started singing out of nowhere, sometimes a dancer would jump onto the stage without reason. People didn't put their lines completely right, and sometimes forgot lines. The girl who played Nala forgot to stand in the right place while Sheila was on stage, which made Sheila walk into her. Special effects exploded every now and then. Helena sighed and laughed it all of. She had yet to witness a general repetition that didn't have errors. Yet, she had trouble sleeping that night. Tomorrow was going to be her debut in making a musical.  
Because of that, she was shaking when she saw how many people showed up. Chiron was standing a bit in the background, next to two men, who stood in the shadows, trying not to get recognized. Helena almost fainted when she recognized the same gods she had been offering the most to for the past two weeks. She quickly stopped peeking behind the curtain. She took a deep breath, walked backstage, and the musical started. A smile grew on her face when it all seemed to go great in the first twenty minutes.  
It stayed great, but you don't think that until the performance is over. Otherwise you can bet your soul that something will go wrong. After the show, a lot of people came up to Helena to say how good it had been. Helena blushed when a beautiful woman hugged her tightly. 'I am proud of you, sweetheart,' Helena's mother told her. She smiled, but her smile faded when Apollo and Dionysus were suddenly standing in front of her. Apollo breathed in deeply... and then hugged her. 'That was great! Clearly you are my child! I mean, only a child of me or Dio over there could pull of such a thing, and Dio is too loyal to have many demigod children.' 'I... am... your... daughter…, yeah...' Helena squeezed out, even though she was getting squashed by her fathers hug. Apollo put her down. 'You did a good job, even though you are a better singer than a better actress. Which, you know, understandable,' Dionysus remarked. 'Thank you, Mr. D,' Helena replied. 'Next time you can do Disney's Hercules!' Apollo said, or sang. 'That film was trash, Apollo.' 'It wasn't, Dio. Come on! It was funny!' 'Not even!' Helena backed away, and walked back to her crew, leaving the two gods bickering about Disney films.


	39. Puppy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel has some trouble sleeping.

Hazel had had nightmares for the past three nights. She didn't know what had triggered the nightmares, but they were there. It was the same ones every day: first she would be thrown into a pit filled with fire-breathing snakes, after that she would be pulled under her bunk bed by something, which was followed by falling into a dark abyss, and after that she would see Camp Jupiter burn down to the ground without being able to rescue anybody. The new camp prophet, who was far better than Octavian, had told her it was nothing to worry about, but she couldn't help but do so. The fourth evening, she went to bed, shaking, pretty much knowing for sure that by 1 A.M. she would be awake again. She closed her eyes, and after two hours finally drifted of to sleep.  
Hazel looked straight into the mouth of a fire-breathing snake, and woke up with a shriek. She felt cold sweat sticking to her body. Instead of laying down again, what she usually did, she climbed out of her bunk bed, trying not to wake up the girl sleeping in the lower bunk, and walked out of her cabin. It was cold outside, and Hazel's pyjama was nearly enough to keep her warm. She clutched her sides, and walked over to the praetor's house, barefooted. The grass was wet, and mud stuck to her feet. A few laeres, who were still awake for some reason, gave her some weird looks. Hazel shivered. The night was particularly cold today. She stepped onto the veranda and walked into the house were the praetors sleeped. She saw two dogs lying in front of one room, one silver and one gold - clearly Reyna's room. Trying not to wake the dogs, she tiptoed upstairs. She wandered through the hallway, accidentally opened a bathroom door, and eventually found her boyfriends room. She knocked on the door. 'Frank?' She heard someone stumbling around, and the door opened. 'Hazel? What are you doing here? It is 1 A.M...' 'I know. I've had the same nightmare for four nights now. Can I just stay here for fifteen minutes? Please?' Frank sighed and took her inside. Hazel sat down on the bed, looking around. 'There aren't many decorations in here.' 'I don't really have that much.' 'Oh.' Hazel felt that she was calming down. 'I hope I don't get my nightmares back.' 'What are they about?' Hazel told him. 'And they return every single night?' Frank asked in disbelief. 'Yes.' It was silent for some time. Suddenly, Frank giggled. He transformed into a puppy. Hazel picked him up, and laughed. She curled up in the bed, with Frank as a puppy by her side. After ten minutes, she was asleep, and the nightmares never returned.


	40. Percy The life Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy has a small job that really fits him.

Annabeth wants Percy to go to college with her. So, Percy needed money as well. After being fired from McDonalds because he told an old woman that he wouldn't serve her because she told him his hair looked terrible, he decided to find a job he actually enjoyed. He became a lifeguard at a beach. The employer had hired him as soon as he realized that Percy was a son of Poseidon (the employer was a son of Apollo). Percy could start three days after he applied, and he was the best life guard that the beach ever had.  
Yet, the first time he saved someone's life, nobody thought he did anything. A little boy swam to far into the sea, and almost drowned. Percy used his magic to bring him back to the shore. His mother picked up the boy, and after that immediately walked over to Percy. 'Sir, what were you doing? My son almost drowned!' A tear ran down her cheek. 'Sorry, ma'am,' Percy said quietly. He couldn't exactly tell her that he had used magic to bring her son back to the shore. The lady kept screaming at him for another ten minutes, but then Percy saw another person almost drowning. He decided that one lady who was extra mad as him was better than two persons being mad at him, excused himself and ran into the sea. He swam up to the little girl that was almost drowning, and brought her to the shore. Her older brother picked her up and thanked Percy. The later walked back to the lady who had been screaming at him. Her expression was somewhere in between extremely mad and very impressed. She grabbed her sons' hand, and walked away. That day, not much happened at the beach.  
The next day, there were a lot of jellyfish at the beach. Not a lot of people showed up because of this, but there was one man who showed up and got stung by a venomous jellyfish. After being at the beach for an hour, he suddenly collapsed. Percy ran over to him, with his phone in his hands. He put his hand on the man's chest, pulling the venom out of his body. He had learned that he should still use mortal ways, so he called an ambulance as wel. It arrived, took the still unconscious man with it and then left again. Percy didn't know what the doctors would think when they realized nothing was wrong, even though he had a bite of a dangerous jellyfish.  
Nothing happened for a week, and Percy started to believe that he just had a rough start. Yet, then he saw a hydra walking on the beach. It was luring at little children, and Percy understood that the hydra couldn't have good intentions. He didn't know what the mortals saw, but he did see that people started to back away from it. Percy jumped up and walked up to it. The hydra saw him, and charged towards Percy. Percy uncapped Riptide, and stabbed the thing in the chest. It ran away, of the beach. Everyone went on with their day, but Percy did hear some whispers behind his back. Percy understood - he would have been weirded out if he had seen a life guard attacking a wild 'dog.'


	41. Surprise Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy's Birthday is coming up. His friends decide to throw him a birthday party.

Percy was sitting in his cabin. He hadn't seen any of his friends for the entire day. He thought that people would congratulate him with his birthday, seeing as how he wasn't going to be there tomorrow on his actual birthday. He sighed and got his suitcase out of the closet. He got permission to go to his mother the next day, so he might as well start packing.  
'Leo, I need more streamers!' Piper ran into the the hall, screaming at the top of her lungs. Leo grabbed some more streamers (and some extra blue glitter) out of his belt, and threw it in her way. 'There is also a bit of glitter in the little plastic box,' Leo remarked. 'Thanks,' Piper murmured, while trying to get the blue glitter out of her hair. She walked back into the Argo II, which was floating around in Bunker 9. Jason was putting some balloons on Festus' head. The dragonhead was trying to get them of, but couldn't. Annabeth put down a blue cake on a table.  
Leo climbed on board of the boat as well, petting his dragon on the head. He looked behind him, at the boat filled with streamers, balloons, glitter and cake. He got a remote out of his hand, which made the roof of the bunker open up. The boat flew out of the bunker, and up to camp Jupiter. They picked up Hazel, Jason and Reyna and went back to Long Island, where demigods were putting up more party supplies.  
A car drove onto the beach. Sally, Paul and their baby got out, with Calypso, who had picked them up. They were brought to the back of the beach, but only after Sally had put some food on the tables. After everyone had stepped into position, and Chiron had walked onto the beach, Annabeth ran away towards the Poseidon's cabin, where her boyfriend was still hanging out. She knocked on the door, and Percy opened it. 'Hey Percy!' Let's take a walk on the beach!' She said.  
' I have to pack, Annabeth.'  
'I'll help you. Let's go.' Percy sighed, and followed his girlfriend onto the beach.  
'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' Everyone who showed up on the beach shouted as soon as Annabeth and Percy walked onto the beach. Percy stopped walking, and his mouth fell open. Annabeth laughed and pulled him further onto the beach, holding his hand. Sally walked up to her son, and hugged him close. Percy was still weirded out by the surprise party, but he had more and more fun as more people congratulated him.  
The party lasted until 4 A.M., but after that most people had left or fell asleep on the beach. Percy walked over to his girlfriend, and kissed her on the cheek. 'Best birthday ever,' he told her. Annabeth smirked. She already knew.


	42. 'Relaxed' Afternoon in Brooklyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadie and Annabeth decide to catch up in Brooklyn.

Annabeth walked up to the café in Brooklyn, with her phone in her hands. She wouldn't have made it this far without google maps, and she was still a little lost. But, eventually, she found the restaurant. She walked inside, and looked around, until she saw Sadie Kane.  
Annabeth walked over to Sadie, smiling. As she put her coat over a chair, she said: 'Sadie! Long time no see!' Sadie smiled back, in a way that always made her look slightly villainous. 'You're right. Brooklyn house has been busy the last few weeks. There is always someone who accidentally explodes the kitchen sink.'  
Annabeth laughed, getting flashbacks of that one time Jason and Leo basically exploded the entire kitchen in Camp Half-blood. 'I know what you mean.' Annabeth picked up the menu, and started looking through the different types of cake the restaurant sold. 'You said that this was a good restaurant.' 'Oh, it's great. They have good chocolate cake.' Annabeth pointed at her menu, and wanted to say something, but an waiter came up to their table. 'Girls, would you like to order?' He asked. Sadie nodded. 'For me, one tea with sugar and a piece of chocolate cake please.' Annabeth put down her menu. 'Apple pie with coffee for me, if that is possible.' The ober nodded, took their menus and walked away.  
'This is good cake. You were right.' Sadie rolled her eyes. 'Of course. I am pretty much always right.' Annabeth sighed. 'I thought that was my job, being right.' Sadie shrugged. 'Guess you thought wrong.' Annabeth giggled, but soon her smile vanished. 'I feel like there is something nearby.' Sadie straightened her shoulders. 'I feel something too.' Both girls looked around, checking the area. Annabeth waved at the ober. 'The check, please,' she asked, with her head not really by what she was saying.  
After the girls payed the bill, they finished their cake, still feeling really on edge. After they were done, Annabeth left a tip for the waiter and they walked outside. 'Where could a monster be hiding in here?' Sadie shrugged again. 'Literally everywhere. One of those dogs might be what we are looking for...' she hadn't even completely finished her sentence, when suddenly one of the dogs started growing and charged towards them. Sadie got her wand out of the Doeat, while Annabeth pulled out her dagger.  
Annabeth attacked the monster straight on, while Sadie used her destructive magic. Annabeth got a solid hit in the hellhound's chest, and ducked away just in time before Sadie's hieroglyph hit the monster. It quickly turned into dust, and the girls ran further down the street. 'What was that, and do you think there are more monsters?' Sadie asked her friend. 'That was hellhound, and I am sure there are more monsters around,' Annabeth said.  
There were lots and lots of other monsters around, almost all of them Greek, accept for one weird presumably Egyptian monster neither of the girls recognized. After four hellhounds, three harpies and five telchines, Annabeth got exhausted of running around. 'Where do all of these things come from?' She asked to no-one in particular. Yet, a man reacted: 'they would be mine, Young lady.'  
He stepped out of the shadows. He smirked villainously, even though he wasn't as good in it as Sadie. Sadie rolled her eyes. 'Are you going to give some long speech about why we should join you on the dark side, or are you just going to attack us?' 'I would like to explain my motivations, if the young ladies don't mind,' the man said through a smirk. 'Actually, I do mind,' Annabeth said, while charging towards the man.  
'You know, I came here to get some rest, and this is not what I have in mind when I think of 'rest,' Annabeth went further. She had already worked the man to the ground, while Sadie fended of some weird monsters in the distance. The man growled. 'Sadie, I might need your help!' Annabeth shouted. Her friend came over, and whispered a single word. A blue hieroglyph lighted up before her, and while Annabeth jumped out of the way, the man got trapped in a magical net. He screamed as loud as he could, but it didn't matter. He was caught.  
'I am still surprised whenever I see this house, you know,' Annabeth said while she and Sadie were taking to man to a few prison cells downstairs. 'You can't throw me in a cell!' The man whined. 'Of course we can't. We will send you to Egypt first thing tomorrow morning, and they'll figure out what you were trying to with Greek monsters over there,' Sadie explained to him. The man cursed as loud as he could, while the girls walked upstairs again.  
'So. Pretty relaxing in the first twenty minutes am I right?' Sadie asked her friend. Annabeth smiled. 'Sure was. We should do this more often.' 'We say that everytime.' 'True.' Annabeth smiled and waved as she walked away. She shook her head when Brooklyn house was out of sight. 'That more pantheons can exist in the same world,' she mumbled to herself as she walked over to Manhattan.


	43. Lasergaming on Olympus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lasergaming on Olympus can get pretty heated...

Hermes was hiding behind a statue of himself. He was holding a laser gun in his left hand. He knew Apollo was here just a few minutes ago. He peeked behind a leg of the statue, and saw that aphrodite was walking onto the square, with her lasergame awkwardly clutched against her chest. Hermes jumped in front of her from  
behind the statue, and shot Aphrodite on her sensors. She screamed, and ran away. 'Hermes! Why?' She cried out. 'For the win, lady!' Aphrodite turned around, and smiled seductively. Hermes stopped, being distracted. Aphrodite took her chance, shot him and ran away as fast as she could. The white skirt of her dress floated around her while she disappeared between the houses.  
The next person who passed Aphrodite's path was Artemis, who wasn't impressed by Aphrodite's flirting. Also, Artemis was way better with her laser gun. She hit Aphrodite an uncountable amount of times, while the other goddess ran away screaming her head of. Artemis turned around and smirked, only to be immediately shot in the back by Athena. The wisdom goddess disappeared immediately, but Artemis heard a scream behind Tyches house.  
She ran over to the back of the house, and saw Athena shooting Ares, and Ares laying on the floor whining. 'Athena! This is not nice! I am the god of wine! 'Thena!' Artemis ran over, shot both of them with her laser gun and ran away, to her brothers' castle.  
As soon as she got there, she got shot on both sides by Apollo and Eros. 'You two can't even get along! Not fair!' She screamed, as she rushed away again, almost running straight into Demeter's arms. Demeter shot her, and Artemis looked so surprised that Demeter cautiously hugged her to say sorry. That was a mistake, because Apollo and Eros immediately caught up to them, and it went back to complete chaos, while the two woman tried to hit one normal archer and a flying archer.  
Hephaestus was just walking outside of his forge, with his laser gun in his arms. He had made a few slight changes to it. He immediately spotted Poseidon and Zeus, and started shooting both of them at the same time. Hephaestus modified laser gun shot laser so fast, that both gods had no choice but to back off. Hephaestus was just laughing about his victory, when he was shot in the back by Hera. The woman laughed, and jumped of the platform she stood on.  
Hera ran away, chased by her son. Hera was faster than most people believe, but eventually Hera ran into front of Athena. She aimed at both of the other gods, but she was the one getting shot by both. Athena ran away, but got stopped by Poseidon and Zeus. This was the point the war goddess started to panic, because everybody was focused on hitting her. No-one was looking at anyone else.  
In a last effort to escape everyone, she climbed over a wall, knowing she was risking being shot with lasers by the owner of the palace behind the wall. Athena let herself fall. She looked around, and felt a wave of relief go over herself as soon as she realised she was surrounded by grapevines, inside the garden of the only Olympian god who wasn't currently on Olympus. She made her way through Dionysus' garden. she glanced behind herself, and saw that Poseidon had followed her. She zigzagged through the garden, accidently crushing grapes and vines left and right.  
Poseidon was focused on hitting Athena, not noticing the death of many vines around him. Athena looked behind herself, and hit Poseidon with a beam of laser. Poseidon shot back. After some time, Athena made a U-turn around the garden, and went for the exit. She and Poseidon made it to the garden porch at the same. Simultaneously, they turned around and saw the huge mess they made of Dionysus' garden. Next to that, they saw Ariadne standing on her balcony, giving them the most poisonous look imaginable. They quickly ran away, as far away as possible.  
At the end of the day, the Olympians checked the scores. Everyone was hit over a hundred times, but Ares, Poseidon and Hermes had the most wins out of everyone else. 'Next time we should do this in Camp Half-blood or Camp Jupiter!' Somebody in the crowd announced. Athena and Poseidon shot each other looks, both with expressions like they just saw a ghost.


	44. Godly Parents? Inside Our camp?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The godly parents get a free trip to camp Half-blood.

Not so long ago, Hera had casually remarked on the fact that not a lot of gods would survive with their children in camp for long. Most of the other gods had taken that not very good, and they arranged an appointment were they stayed in camp Half-blood or Camp Jupiter for two days. Hera smiled when they all departed, knowing that she would have the place alone with just Hestia, Psyche, Artemis and Ariadne for two days.  
Chiron was standing on the veranda of the big house, waiting for the gods to arrive. He looked at the person standing beside him. 'Dionysus, how much do you enjoy the fact that these people are all going to be beneath you for about two days?' 'You tell me, Chiron. How much do you think I like that idea?' 'This is probably the first time you and Lady Hera agree on something.' Dionysus nodded. 'I agree with you on that.'  
Athena and Poseidon were the first two to arrive, and they almost pulled their hair out of their heads. 'Back at this place! How often are we going to be here!?' Poseidon exclaimed miserably. Athena looked at him. 'I think we finally agree on something!' She sighed with a tear in her left eye. 'I guess you have a slight bit of common sense, uncle!'  
The rest of the gods arrived, and the group slowly started to walk up to the Big House. There was a group of demigods forming - all two hundred forty two demigods wanted to see how an enormous flock of gods had been sent to their camp. Poseidon and Athena shot looks at Dionysus, who looked rather smug. The divine people all stood crowded around the big house, feeling uneasy (accept for Apollo, who was talking to everyone he had met as Lester).  
Chiron started speaking: 'to every god and goddess that has arrived, I'd like to say: Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! You will all sleep in a cabin with your children, and will act the way our campers do. That, er, also means that you all have to listen to me, Argus and Diony... you know what, just go with your children and let them tell you what to do. And try not to murder each other.'  
'No way that I am going to listen to my younger brother!' Ares shouted as soon as Chiron went silent. 'Than you don't and people will tell stories of how pretty you looked while you did ballet on your own table for generations,' Dionysus answered to that. Ares went white, and set a few steps back. 'Does he have power to just... do that?' Someone in the crowd screamed. Chiron nodded. The gods rolled their eyes and walked away. 'I wish I was director of this camp,' Nemesis mumbled to herself.  
Athena and Poseidon had settled into their cabins. Athena's children had helped their mother unpack, but Percy had mostly tried not to laugh. After that, both deities had decided to take a walk into the strawberry fields. They met each other exact in the middle. 'You stalker! You've been following me!' Athena screeched. 'No way! Do you really think I would stalk after you?' Poseidon shouted back.  
Just as it seemed that they would go to far and grab their weapons, the two heard someone cough behind them. They turned around, only to see the group of agriculture kids staring at them. 'The strawberries have just regrown, lord and lady. Please, if you could fight someplace else...' athena and Poseidon smiled and ran away.  
'How did they dare talk to us like that?' Poseidon asked his niece. Athena rolled her eyes. 'I can only assume they know Dionysus can do whatever he wants to us, and knowing him he will pick the side of the fruit,' Athena said, 'also, Demeter! Your kids sure lóve their fruit!' She screamed at her aunt, who was passing by. The woman gave her a weird look, but didn't stop walking.  
Later that day, a horn sounded. The campers got up and flocked towards a pavilion, so the gods decided to follow them. When they arrived, they realised it was dinnertime. They didn't sit down, though, and more just stood there awkwardly (except for Poseidon, Athena and Apollo, who already knew how this worked).  
Chiron shot the Deities a weird look. 'Aren't you all sitting down?' He asked politely. 'Where, exactly?' Aphrodite asked. 'With your children,' Chiron answered. A few gods got a horrified expression on their face. 'There are no separate seats for gods?' 'No. All of you will have to act like everyone else,' Dionysus answered, while very much not sitting with Sheila and Pollux. He got a few venomous looks for that one, but everybody sat down at their tables.  
'How long do these announcements take?' Hermes asked his children, while Chiron and Dionysus kept reciting names, titles and activities. Connor Stole shrugged. 'Almost the entire Olympus is here. They have the rattle of all their names, or someone will probably feel left out. Hermes drummed on the table with his fingers. 'Still,' he muttered to himself.  
When the announcements were finally done, everyone got to eat - and the food was gone within half of the time it had taken to announce everyone with title and rank. As soon as Chiron declared that diner was over, the gods sprinted away as quickly as possible.  
Until they all got called back by their children for the Campfire songs. While being as impatient as a child on christmas day, they sat through the songs, shooting envious looks at Dionysus, who could walk away whenever he pleased. When the horn sounded for bedtime, every deity who had bragged about totally being able to handle it fell onto their bed, and were immediately of to dreamland.  
The next day, most gods couldn't get out of their beds, but with the help of their screaming children managed to do so. After breakfast, aphrodite suddenly fell to the floor, crying about how hard it was. Most other gods followed her, except for everyone who was used to camp. Hermes got out a mobile phone, and a minute later the four woman who had stayed on Olympus landed in the middle of camp.  
Hera started to tell everyone how brave they had been, while trying not to laugh her pretty head of. Artemis was practically doing the same, but she was just actually laughing. Psyche was helping gods pack. Ariadne was helping people pack as well, but halfway through got distracted and talked to her husband for a while instead. The gods went away, Hera, Artemis and Psyche picked up the last few belongings of the Olympians, Ariadne pressed a kiss on Dionysus' cheek and everyone left camp.  
As soon as the campers were sure everyone was really gone, they exploded into cheering. Having their parents whine about the hardness of the bed all night hadn't been exactly comfortable while trying to sleep.


	45. Will's First Patient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will wasn't Always the great doctor we know him as.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy's first year in camp half-blood

Will Solace came to camp when he was nine. His mother had became a famous singer, and would be leaving the country for a tour. She knew it was dangerous to bring her child with her, so she brought him to camp a year early. Not that anybody batted an eye - having younger kids was common. When his older siblings found out Will was a healer (instead of a musician, what everybody initially thought), they decided to let him work in the infirmary of camp.  
He was taught some things about bandages, medicine and needles. Will was a good student, and learned how to heal people fairly quickly. Yet, after having been in the infirmary for only a month, all Will's older siblings were called away from camp, to do something for Apollo (the god had stated that he only wanted the kids of twelve and older helping him, so Will was left out). But that didn't stop campers from getting wounded, no matter how many times Chiron told them to be careful. When an Ares kid was carried into the hospital, Will was the only one capable of helping him.  
That was a bit of a problem, because the son of Ares had broken his leg, and Will hadn't learned to work with plaster yet. He could give the older camper some Ambrosia, but it didn't do much. Will smiled at the camper, who gave him the most angry look imaginable. Will backed away, and walked towards a shelf. The shelf contained colourful bandaids and a few teddybears. Will, being a young and naïve child, got some bandaids and a Teddy Bear of  
out of the shelves and gave it to the Ares camper. The boy started screaming and yelling for real help, which made Chiron walk into the infirmary and waved his hand at Will, gesturing him to walk away.  
Years later, Will still remembered this incident. He hadn't told anybody, until he met Nico. The son of Hades was a real Ray of sunshine, and he rolled his eyes when Will told him. 'That's so ridiculous.' Will sighed. 'Sometimes you are just impossible.' Nico shrugged, and tried to shadow travel away at the same time. It didn't work, and he collapsed on the ground in front of his boyfriend.  
He woke up in the hospital. Nico sighed and sunk deep into his cushions, but was suddenly stopped. He felt something by his sides. Nico grabbed whatever it was and pulled it above the blankets. It was a pink teddy bear. 'Will!' The blond doctor came walking up to him, with a stupid grin on his face. 'You screamed, lord?' He asked. Nico looked at him and fell back into his pillows. 'Why are you so cute?' He asked. Will giggled. 'My father's great looks and amazing intelect have been given to me via his genes,' he answered. Nico rolled his eyes. 'Because your dad has great intellect.' Will fell onto the bed laughing, which is when another doctor came into the room: a daughter of Asclepius. 'No cuddling in the infirmary!' She screamed.  
Will quickly stood up. 'I am going to get more teddy bears.' He ran out of the hospital. 'Can you get a grizzly bear?' He heard Nico scream in the background.


	46. Half-disaster date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy's and Annabeths' date is interrupted by two people they did not expect.

Percy took Annabeth on a date - nothing out of the ordinary. They were going to the cinema, which they often did. Percy kissed Estelle on her forehead, waved his parents goodbye, grabbed his girlfriend's hand and walked out of the house and towards the bus stop.  
They arrived at the cinema. 'Which movie did you pick?' Percy asked his girlfriend. Annabeth grinned. 'Titanic. It's in theatres for only a week, so I decided we could watch it. Annabeth hugged her boyfriends' arm. Percy rolled his eyes. 'It's a fine film.' 'It's more than just fine, Percy. Percy shrugged. 'Whatever you say.'  
They bought popcorn and a bottle of coke. 'Why don't they sell coloured dye with this yet?' Percy whined, while holding up the snacks. Annabeth laughed. 'Maybe you could bring that on the market and earn a fortune.' 'I totally should,' Percy answered.  
They walked into the theatre, and sat down in their places. Percy put the popcorn in between them, and each of them put their bottles to the ground. Percy stared at it for a minute. 'There is about a ninety-nine percent that either one of those bottles falls over and there is going to be a mess,' Percy said. Annabeth nodded.  
An elderly couple sat down behind Percy and Annabeth, looking slightly annoyed with the youths in front of them. The room went dark, and the commercials started. Percy pointed at a commercial of a roomba. 'Our camp should adopt that as a pet.'  
Annabeth shook her head. 'People will start worshipping it, and than it'll take over the Hermes cabin, after that the rest of the cabins, than it will throw over the camp directors, it will infiltrate camp Jupiter, brainwash everyone, throw over Olympus with it's armies and it will be the king of the universe.' Percy laughed. 'Susss!' He heard behind him.  
Percy looked at the woman behind him, but didn't say anything. He didn't know how, but somehow he recognized her grey eyes from somewhere. He looked at the man, and couldn't help but recognize him as well. But then the movie started, and he got distracted by it.  
After Jack saved Rose from jumping of the boat, annabeth cuddled up to Percy and kissed him on the cheek. Percy kissed her on the forehead. Annabeth leaned in to kiss him on the mouth, but then she heard the woman behind her kick against her chair. She looked behind her, and the man looked at her and gave her a dirty look. 'Kids these days,' the woman mumbled.  
Annabeth felt, just like Percy, like she had seen the woman and the man before. Yet, the scene where Jack tries to fit in with the aristocrats started, and her attention got taken away from the couple behind her.  
The popcorn was almost gone, and when both demigods reached for the same kernel, they touched hands. Annabeth grabbed her boyfriends' hand, and pulled him into a kiss. Percy kissed her back. Annabeth out her hands behind her boyfriends' back, but she heard someone cough and scrape their throat behind her. Someone, again, kicked against her chair.  
The demigods pulled apart, and angrily focused on the film again. The break begun, and Percy and Annabeth stood up to go to the bathroom. Percy looked behind him, and realized that the couple was following them. He duck behind a wall, and looked at them. Annabeth put her hand to her mouth, and grabbed her percy's hand. She ran away with him, towards the snack shop.  
'Percy, those are Athena and Poseidon!' Annabeth whispered a bit to loud. Percy looked like everything fell into the right place. Then he grinned. 'I have a plan.' Annabeth's eyes lit up. 'I understand what you mean.'  
The break was over, and Percy and Annabeth walked back into the theatre. They didn't kiss again until the scene where Rose was asking at the sinking Jack to come back. After that, Annabeth acted like she was crying. Percy put her hand around her shoulder.  
Athena kicked against his back, and that was his cue to lean in and kiss Annabeth on her mouth. The kept kissing until Athena and Poseidon basically ran out of the cinema.  
They watched the end of the movie, and walked out of the theatre. Outside, Athena and Poseidon were waiting. Annabeth leaned closer to them. 'Good movie wasn't it, mother? Father-in-law?' The demigods ran down the street, laughing their heads off, while the two gods stood by the street - completely dumbstruck.


	47. The Hair-dye prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Travis have one of their great ideas again.

In the dead of night, the Stoll brothers wandered into the Poseidon cabin, trying to be as silent as they possibly could. Connor almost couldn't push back a laugh as he looked at the blue hair dye in his hands. The brothers walked over to Percy, and waited for some time.  
The son of Poseidon was dead asleep. The brothers climbed onto the bunk bed, so that they were at the same level as their victim. Travis softly grabbed a lock of his hair, and connor put a piece of foil under it. His brother put the blue paint on the lock. They waited for a few minutes, and then put some water over the lock.  
The lock got an amazing blue colour. Connor rolled his eyes. They dyed a few more locks, until they ran out of blue dye. They softly climbed of the bunk bed, and made their way out of the cabin as fast as they possibly could.  
'Why does it look so good on him?' Connor whined. Travis shrugged. 'Poseidon's genes, I guess,' he answered. 'Sure. Now, how did you want to get the doors to the big house open?' Travis smiled. 'I thought you'd never ask.'  
Simply with the key, Travis opened the door to the Big House. 'You know how Chiron called us into his office because we threw a paintbom in the lake? This key was just laying on his desk, out in the open.' Connor giggled. 'That's stupid. You never know who sees it.' They walked into the Big House.  
'So, the bedrooms of the staff are upstairs. I go and sabotage the locks, you get the purple hair dye.' Travis walked out of the house again, while Connor tiptoed upstairs. As he entered the central chamber, he felt a weird force come over him. He stood still for a while, but walked further into the room as nothing happened.  
He looked around. The living room looked pretty normal. There was a square oak wooden table in the middle, with three chairs around it. Against the wall stood a bookshelf and a couch. There were two doors leading to other rooms.  
Connor tried the first door. It was a bathroom, with three toothbrushes - all in another cup. He tried the second door, which lead to a hallway. Connor heard someone on the stairs, and froze. A few seconds later, his brother appeared, with a bowl of purple hair dye.  
Together, they walked down the hallway. Their were about ten doors, seven of which were open. Three others were closed. Travis tried one of them. It was locked. He pulled out his key, and opened the door. Behind it was Argus' bedroom, so Connor quickly closed the door again. 'I don't think he saw me,' he said as he tried the next door.  
The next room was Dionysus' bedroom. Connor grinned. Travis held up the bowl of hair-dye. The walked over to the bed, and did the same thing to Dionysus' curls as they had done to Percy's straight locks.  
The next day, everyone went to breakfast as usual. Except that a certain Son of Poseidon and a certain God of Wine were missing. Chiron looked around, and asked if anybody had seen one of them. The Stolls kept a poker face.  
Neither of the victims of the prank showed up during breakfast. After the meal, the Stolls walked over to the Poseidon cabin. Nobody was there. They shot each other a look, and walked to the Big House.  
Chiron stood in front of it. 'What's wrong, Chiron?' Travis asked. 'The door's locked and I lost my key. And I hear voices coming from behind the door, and they don't sound very happy.' Travis pulled out his key, looking a bit ashamed.  
They opened the door, only to find Dionysus and Percy bickering with each other, like they always did. Both of them had streaks dyes into their hair, and were clearly blaming the other for somehow being the cause of it. The Stolls fell to the floor laughing, and both victims looked over at them.  
Travis stared back, and decided that there would be some kind of revenge for the Hair dye prank. Both of them ran out of the house laughing their heads off. We thought we could do it to bring everyone closer together, so there would be peace in camp! Travis shouted over his shoulder.   
Inside, Percy and Dionysus were still staring at the door. Percy swallowed, and looked at the other victim. Silently, both of them sat down and got out a piece of paper. Because there would be, in fact, consequences for painting their hair with magical paint.


	48. Mountain Metal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel is on a search team to find metal.

The university of Rome had found a new type of metal, in the Alps in Austria. A team of students from the university had teamed up with a few demigod students from the local schools, and they set out to go look in the mountains.  
Hazel was one of those people, and she was scared - she felt alone in between all the students, who were at least five years older than her. But the school had insisted that she'd come along, because of her powers with the ground.  
So she went. With backpacks they walked through the mountains, which weren't very dangerous at first - there was a road after all. They ate lunch in a small place with a gorgeous panorama view. Hazel took a few pictures, to show her friends later.  
But after the first day (they had slept in a road hotel. Hazel thought it was pretty neat, seeing as how she wasn't used to luxurious hotels) they went of the road. They had to hike through the forests to find the place were the rader had discovered the metal. Luckily, there was a small stream, that lead to the spot where they needed to be. The captain of the team had chosen to follow the little flow of water for that reason.  
They stopped for lunch. There were wild animals around, and they were all warned for those. Most students constantly kept an eye on Hazel. Even though she was powerful, she was still a child and they were scared that even a dedicated squirrel could be dangerous for her. Hazel didn't really notice it. There were a lot of fossils deep under the mountains, and that was where her attention was most of the time.  
After a few hours, a lot of students started getting tired. The captain could keep up the tempo they were walking in for another hour, and after that everyone threw their sleeping bags on the ground and most people immediately fell asleep.  
Hazel couldn't fall asleep quite so easily. She felt the presence of ghosts all around her, and she felt a lot of valuable jewels under the ground. She sighed, and murmured something. She immediately fell asleep - sleeping spells were always very effective.  
The next day, Hazel woke up like normal - but the rest of the group didn't. Hazel shook their shoulders a few times, but it didn't help. She sighed, realising that her sleeping spell had put the others into a coma. She just wanted to wake them up with more magic, when she felt something in the ground, just two-hundred metres away.  
Hazel ran over to the place. She breathed deeply, and concentrated on the metal she felt under her feet. A grey, shiny, long, thing appeared at her feet. She picked it up. It was surprisingly light-weight. She laughed, and ran back to camp. 'Hey! I found the metal! Take a look...' Hazel entered the camp, suddenly remembering that everyone was asleep. She woke everyone up, and told them what had happened.  
The group collected more of the metal. After the captain had decided that they had found enough, she reformed the group, and they walked down the mountain again.


	49. Jurrasic Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico plans to re-do Jurrasic park, but better this time.

'Neeks, this is a stupid idea.' 'What are you talking about? I am just surprised no-one else came up with this!' Will sighed. 'Nico, in the film this went really wrong, you know...' 'that is why this isn't the film!' Nico called out while he payed for the tickets to the natural history museum. Lou Ellen giggled, right next to him. Nico tried to walk towards the entrance of the museum, but felt a hand on his shoulder. 'Neeks, I love you, but this is going to far. This is actual theft.' 'Will, I'll bring him back, once I am done!' Nico exclaimed, while he walked over to the giant dinosaur in the hall of the New York natural history museum.  
Nico looked around, like he was scared something would jump on his back from behind. The mortals were all just walking around, like nothing was going on. Lou Ellen waved with her arms, like she was trying to hit an annoying mosquito. All the mortals started walking out of the central hallway, like a weird force made them do it. Lou smiled. When they were all gone, she gave a thumbs up to Nico, who was sitting on the dinosaur. Nico grinned. Will sighed. 'Let's go, then.' He climbed on the dinosaur as well, and Nico took a deep breath. He held his hands on the dinosaurs shoulders. With a roar, the dinosaur came to life.  
'I didn't know dinosaurs roared, I always thought it would growl,' Lou Ellen said from the ground. 'I will catch up to you outside of New York. Until then, I have to keep the mortals away.' Will and Nico nodded. Nico knocked on the dinosaurs shoulder, and it started to slowly walk towards the door. Nico screeched of happiness. Will screeched out of fear. They arrived at the doors, when suddenly they closed. 'Come on! Lou? Did you do that?' Nico yelped. 'No, I really didn't!' Lou yelled back from behind them. Will screamed, and suddenly a person jumped in front of the two boys, on the dinosaur.  
'Let us pass!' Will yelled. 'I don't want to be here longer than necessary!' Nico just stared at the person. 'You are dead.' ' am from hotel Walhalla. I am here to check that nobody runs of with the dead.' 'Are you Annabeth's cousin?' Will asked. The person shook their head. 'I am his significant other.' Nico suddenly gasped. 'You are the child of Loki.' He grinned suspiciously. 'Say, I had this grand idea this morning, Alex Fierro...'  
'So where is this camp of yours?' Alex asked. All four demigods had climbed on top of the alive again dinosaur, and they were on their way to camp half-blood. 'We have to go more north,' Will answered. Alex smiled. 'You know, I haven't seen your camp yet, but I think it's pretty great.' Alex pulled back her green sleeve. A pink bracelet was under it. 'I heard a few campers made this bracelet. It changes colour when I am starting to feel more male or female. It is great.' 'Were you that person who immediately bought three?' Lou asked. 'That's none of your business.' Lou rolled her eyes. Alex sighed. 'I tend to lose stuff sometimes, and there is no way I am going to go through all of the nine worlds to find one thing. So I decided to just buy a few at once, just in case.'  
The dinosaur marched further. When it finally arrived in camp Half-blood, the sun had started to set. Will yawned. 'You know, I didn't expect to actually do this today.' Nico rolled his eyes. 'You always have to be prepared for everything, William.' Will wanted to say something, but stopped when the dinosaur started gaining speed and it ran towards the pavilion. They heard people scream below. Nico stood up, facing the entire camp. 'Behold! This is the first dinosaur in camp Jurassic. You will all have to get used to it. Also, I declare myself the new director.´ Mr. D shrugged and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, but Chiron came galloping towards the dinosaur. 'Nico, get of the dinosaur and send it back this instant!' He screamed.  
Nico got of the dinosaur, and helped the other three of as well. 'Chiron, I have a problem. I never worked out a plan on how to send the dinosaur back, because I was certain camp Jurassic would be a thing for a couple of centuries.' 'You mean that you forgot to work out a way to bring the dinosaur back?' Nico nodded. Chiron shrugged. 'Maybe Dionysus can figure out a way.' They heard a sigh right next to them. 'I'll make sure it magically gets back. Also, the four of you have to do the dishes for two weeks.' 'I don't live here!' Alex exclaimed. 'To bad for you. You are clearly dead, so I am going to assume you are from hotel Walhalla. I can work something out with the manager.' Dionysus snapped his fingers, and disappeared, and so did the dinosaur.  
'Why do you guys even do the dishes with lava?' Alex asked. He wiped his forehead with his arm, on which the bracelet had turned blue. 'Ultra-clean I guess,' Lou answered. 'I think I burned part of my thumb,' Will said. 'But the really important question is, why do you guys have a horse and some death-controlling dude as directors?' Alex asked. 'A centaur and a wine-god, and I am truly to tired to explain why they are here right now,' Will said to that. Lou wiped her eyes. 'I didn't know chores could make you this tired.' Only Nico was just doing the dishes, with a smile on his face. Soon enough, jurassic camp would reign New York - he felt it in his bones.


	50. Goode High Schools' God Infestation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few gods have decided to infiltrate Percy's high school.

Percy was walking through the hallways, with sunglasses on. A few of his teachers made gestures to try and make him take them of, but it didn't work. Percy came closer to his classroom, and sighed. He didn't like english literature class. He was wondering why he chose this class, while he was walking into the room. He put his bag down on a table at the back of the room and sat down. More students started to walk into the room, but the teacher didn't come in. Percy thought that was weird - usually Mr. Harolds was right on time.  
After five minutes, a woman came into the class. She had blond hair, and Percy could have sworn he had seen the storm-grey eyes before. His brain flashed an image of a dark cinema, and suddenly he realised who the woman was. He sighed. This was going to be a bumpy ride.  
Athena looked around the room. 'Your usual teacher is sick, and I am the substitute teacher for today.' She put her bag on the ground, and got a pen out of it. 'So, literature. You are all reading 'Lord Of The Flies,' I thought?' Everyone in the classroom groaned. A girl in the front nodded slowly. Athena put her hair behind her ear. 'Everyone, just... read where you left of.' Everyone slowly opened their books, and started reading. Except for Percy. A grin spread across his face.  
He stood up. 'Miss, I need to go to the bathroom! Can I go to the bathroom?' Athena looked at him. 'I don't know. Can you?' She asked. The entire class sighed deeply. 'Yes I can, miss!' Percy said, as he skipped towards the door. In the door frame, he stopped. He looked at Athena. 'She you never, Athena!' He said, and he sprinted down the hallway, to the boys' bathroom. He heard Athena scream in the background, but didn't listen to hear what she was saying.  
The next period was Ancient Greek. Percy new that the last chapter was going to be Greek Mythology, starting today. He shook his head, knowing that today they would be talking about how kind all the Olympians were. He sat down, waiting for Paul. He walked into the room, but he wasn't alone. Some dude with blue eyes and dark brown hair was standing behind him. Again, Percy thought that he recognized the new person. 'Class, today this person will be helping us.' 'What's his name?' Some boy called out. Paul didn't answer, which slightly concerned Percy.  
Paul started rattling of the names of all the Olympians. Percy smiled at Paul when he heard Poseidon being mentioned. Paul smiled back, but before he started talking about Hades Percy had tuned out again. A few times, the trainee would say some information. Percy couldn't help but feel like he recognized the voice. But he was sure he had heard it more often than the voices of most of the gods.  
At least, they arrived at the twelfth Olympian. He told the class about the weird culture in Greece, how some people would see Hestia as the twelfth Olympian and others Dionysus. 'Hestia is better,' Percy muttered. Paul grinned, but the trainee focused his gaze on Percy. 'Why do you think that, young man?' He asked. Percy rolled his eyes. 

'Hestia is the sweet goddess of the hearth fire, who never hurt anybody. Dionysus once drove the entire female population of Athens crazy after they killed his favorite human or whatever.' 'Do you consider that weird in a modern day context?' Percy raised his eyebrows. 'Yes, that is weird in the modern day, obviously. Also, Hestia stayed sweet in the modern day while Dionysus became a total weirdo. Don't ask, I just know that.'   
The trainee raised his left hand, and shrugged. Suddenly, Percy recognized that he had purple streaks in his hair. Percy reached to his own blue streaks, the result of the Stolls prank. 'Wait...' the stagiair winked. Percy didn't say anything, and ran out of the classroom.   
He hid in the library, where he decided to read some things Annabeth had given him. After he read about three pages, he felt someone looking at his back. He looked around, and saw the the usual librarian was gone. A woman with brown eyes was reading through one of the books. She looked into his eyes. Percy immediately turned around and walked back to the boys' bathroom. 'Demeter too? Why?' He muttered to himself.   
The next period, Percy took a deep breath before walking into the room. He decided that if there was another god in front of the class, he would just go home. Percy pushed open the door, and peaked at the teacher. On first glance, it looked just like misses Baker. So he sat down in his usual place. 'Misses Baker' looked at him - and Percy recognized Zeus's black eyes. He picked up his bag and power walked out of the classroom.  
Percy came home early, and his mother noticed. 'Percy, didn't you have school to quarter past three today? Percy put his bag down. 'The Olympian gods have infiltrated my school. One of them played as Paul's trainee. I will look if they are gone tomorrow.' Sally shrugged and sighed. 'It's okay, Percy. I'll call the school and say you got sick.'


	51. Revenge For The Hair-dye Prank Part 1: Mario Kart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy needs some help with taking revenge on the Stolls.

The plan that was meant to take revenge on the Stoll brothers was taking form, even though both victims had gotten used to their coloured streaks. Percy was twirling one of his blue streaks around his fingers, while he was walking towards the Hades cabin. Nico wasn't a person with a very stable mood, it was more like he could be happy one day and angry the next.  
Percy knocked on the door of the Hades cabin, assuring himself that there wasn't any other way to get what he wanted. 'Go away,' Nico's obviously very happy voice said. Percy sighed. 'Nico, I need a favour.' 'No way, Percy.' 'It's to get revenge on the Stolls, for dying my and Mr. D's hair.'  
It stayed silent for a while. 'Percy, that was really funny,' the son of Poseidon heard someone say through the door. 'Remember that one time the Stolls made your door sing 'spooky scary skeletons' whenever you walked through them? I'll get revenge for that as well.' It was silent again, until Percy heard a small 'come in, then.'  
Percy walked through the door. 'Spooky scary skeletons' started playing, but Percy ignored it. He looked around the cabin. Nico was sitting on his bed, in the dark, with a gaming console in his hands. His face was lit up by the screen of his Wii. 'What are you playing?' Percy asked loudly.  
Nico put his finger to his lips. 'Silent.' He pointed at something in his lap. Will was sleeping on a pillow that was resting on Nico's legs. 'He had a long day at the hospital, yesterday. Someone got very sick and needed treatment throughout the entire night. He needs sleep now.' Percy nodded, and sat down next to Nico. The son of Hades passed him another controller.  
'So, what do you want?' Nico asked, as he was finishing his round of Mario Kart. 'I need you to raise a few skeletons for me, as a decoy. That way I can go through with our plan.' Nico shrugged. 'And what's your plan.' Percy looked over his shoulder. 'I can't tell you.' Nico sighed deeply. 'I'll spawn seven skeletons in front of the Hermes cabin.'  
Percy looked at him. 'Really?' Nico nodded. 'If you beat me at Mario kart somewhere in the next three rounds.' Nico loaded up the rainbow road, while he smirked at Percy. Percy sighed. 'Bring it on.' He picked up the controller, and they started the first round.  
Nico utterly destroyed Percy in the first two rounds. He was in the second round while Percy was still driving into the vastness of space. Nico was about to finish while Percy was driving in the wrong direction. 'That inky thing was in the way.' Nico shrugged, again. 'Sure.'  
They were at the last round, and Percy started to feel nervous. He didn't know for how much time Nico had been sitting in his cabin playing Mario Kart, but he was really good. Just as Nico was about to start the third round, percy yelled: 'Wait! Let me mentally prepare!' Nico quickly put his hand over Percy's mouth, but Will woke up. He opened his eyes. 'Whatz Percy doing hzere?' He asked, still sleepy. 'We're having a mario kart battle, to see if I am worthy of an apocalypse,' Percy answered.  
Will gave him a weird look. Nico sighed. 'He wants me to spawn skeletons outside of the Hermes cabin. I told him I would do it if he beat me at Mario.' Will yawned as he got up. 'Can I try?' Percy saw that Nico didn't really know how to feel about that. Will was giving him a pair of extremely sad puppy-dog eyes. Nico sighed and gave the controller to his boyfriend. 'Please win for me.'  
Will was what Percy had been with Nico. He could not play Mario Kart at all. Percy won, and he and Nico decided that they would spawn a wave of skeletons outside the Hermes cabin at three P.M. on tuesday. After Percy was gone, Nico didn't look at Will. 'Why are you so bad in that game. Will shrugged. 'Sorry?' Nico looked at him. 'Stop giving me puppy dog eyes and go back to sleep.' Nico sat down and picked up the controller again, while Will laid down on his pillow. He was asleep within 3 minutes.


	52. Australia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy tries to plan his revenge, but things go a few Thousand kilometres wrong.

Annabeth was sitting in the library, studying history. She was bored - she had been revising this for hours now. She looked up, and saw the Stolls brothers bend over a book. They were whispering to each other. Annabeth listened for a few minutes.  
She heard them whisper about 'revenge' 'hair dye' 'we need some help' 'your idea' 'Olympian god and hero of camp' 'go and hide' and 'why did we do it?' At some point, they realised Annabeth was eavesdropping. They grabbed the book of the table and scurried out of the library.  
At that point, an Iris-message appeared in front of Annabeth. Her boyfriend appeared in the fog. 'Hey, Annabeth, funny story...' Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'What happened? Are you in immediate danger?' Percy swallowed. 'Maybe?' 'Tell me quickly and run after that, then!'  
'So I am currently in Sydney...' how?' 'Let me explain. I was working on my revenge plan, and I was gathering some stuff for that. I accidently passed by the Hecate cabin, and I realised I shouldn't have done that when Lou and one of her siblings jumped out of their hiding spots and sprayed some weird magical stuff on my shirt. I felt really weird, and everything went dark. When I could see again, I was in Australia.'  
Annabeth stared at him. 'I would ask what you were gathering this time, but I don't think that is a good idea.' Percy shook his head.  
'You're righ...' he screamed, and ran away from the Iris-message, which broke the contact.  
Annabeth quickly packed up her books, and ran outside. She ran to a not so crowded alley way, and threw a drachma at the ground. The taxi of the grey sisters appears in front of her. 'Camp Half-blood, quick!' She tells the three ladies. One if them rolls their eye. 'Of course, sweetie. Us humble peasants will bring you to your silly camp.'  
As soon as she appeared in camp, Annabeth ran to the Hecate cabin. 'Bring me to Sydney!' She screamed. 'Annabeth, can you ask that nicely?' One of the boys asked. 'Can you please bring me to Sydney? I heard about Percy.' One of the girls smirked, and threw a bag of powder over Annabeth's shoulders.  
The world started twirling around her, and everything went dark, just as Percy had said. When she could see again, she was standing in an alley. She ran to the street, and immediately saw the infamous opera house.  
Annabeth dug a drachma and a debit card out of her pocket. She bought a water bottle at the nearest store, and send a message to Percy. He appeared in the fog, and Annabeth burst out laughing. 'What are you wearing?'  
'I am wearing a suit like I am going to a marriage, and yes, it has a tie.'  
'Why, though?'  
'You know how I screamed and broke the contact? Yeah, a bunch of monsters appeared behind me. I don't know what they are, but I do now that they are opera-thenatics. Now, I apparently have to sing opera?' Percy looked afraid, but Annabeth fell over laughing.  
'In the opera house? How? Did they just get into it and somehow the mist does it's work?'  
'I guess so.'  
'Wait, I am going to enter the opera house.'  
'No! No! Don't do tha...' Annabeth broke of the contact, and ran over to the opera house.  
She used her new invisibility cap to get inside, and also sneak into the backstage area. There, she put it of. 'Percy!' She called out. One door opened, and her boyfriend stepped out. 'Help.'  
Annabeth grabbed his hand, and pulled him to a back door. They tried to walk outside, but a group of monsters was guarding the door. Annabeth didn't really realize it, and ran away, down the streets.  
'You know, I am really thankful for this.' Annabeth giggled. 'Thanks. How do we get back?'  
'Maybe if we scream 'bring me back?' Percy said sarcastically. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but weirdly enough, her boyfriend started disappearing. 'Bring me back!' She said as well, and seconds later they appeared back in camp Half-blood.  
Percy didn't say anything, but just walked away, with an expression on his face that said: 'I'm done, leave me alone.' Annabeth just stood there, with her brain still somewhere in Australia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was not very good. I decided to upload it anyways.


	53. Mrs. O'Leary Needs A Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mrs. O'leary needs bath. Everyone decides to help.

'Come on, girl, just a little further...' Piper thought that things really couldn't get weirder than sweet-talking her grandmother to sleep, but here she was, sweet-talking a hellhound into getting closer to the lake. Mrs. O' leary barked loudly, and an ocean of salvia came out of her mouth.  
Some landed on Piper's' face. She wiped it of, with a grossed out expression on her face. 'Just... just a little further...' she muttered. The hound jumped up. Piper screamed and ran away, while Mrs. O' leary landed on the place she had standed just a second ago. She stopped running, and took a deep breath, preparing herself to go back.  
Yet, Nico came running past her. He clacked his tongue, and Mrs. O' leary followed him, to a tup which was just big enough for her. Nico ran around it, but Mrs. O' leary jumped into it. Water splashed into her fur, while she was still standing up. Nico sat down, and so did the hellhound.  
Annabeth slowly walked to one side of the hound, while Will walked to the other side. Both were carrying a huge sponge and a bottle of soap. While Nico and Piper distracted Mrs. 'O leary, they scrubbed soap into her wet fur. Silently, Jason landed on top of the beast, and started scrubbing soap on her back.  
When they were done, Jason got off of Mrs O'leary's back, Annabeth and Will crept away, and Piper and Nico took a few steps towards the lake. Nico walked towards the hellhound, with a dog treat in his hand. Jason lifted him up, and Nico gave it to him.  
Both boys walked back again, as silent as possible. Then, Percy put his head above the surface of the lake, and looked around. Annabeth, Nico and Jason nodded, so Percy got out of the lake. He walked to the dog, who had jumped up and had barked again, sending salvia flying through the air.  
While most demigods ran away, Percy closed his eyes and felt the wet stuff hit his skin. He opened his eyes again, and looked at his dog. She was happily looking down to him. Piper and Annabeth were brave enough to walk back. 'Say, girl, isn't this... iron tup... made by Leo... nice to sit in? Maybe you should try!' Piper charmspoke. The hellhound turned her head, but didn't do what she said.  
While the girls (and the three guys who were finding their bravery back) distracted the hound and tried to get her to sit down again, Percy made the water rise. He hoped this idea would work. An enormous ball of water started to form above the dog and the demigods. Percy looked over at Annabeth, who caught his gaze. 'Run!' She yelled, and as everybody ran away, the ball of water came down from the sky.  
It landed on Mrs. 'O leary - and also on the demigods. Jason and Piper, who both had been to slow, got smacked against the ground. Mrs 'O leary barked in surprise, but eventually started joyfully jumping around in the stream of water the splash had created. To avoid being trampled over by the hellhound, Jason picked up Piper and flew up, out of the dog's reach.  
He put Piper down to the ground (in a safe place) and landed on the dogs back again. She stopped jumping about, but sat completely still instead, wondering where this new thing on her back came from. Jason used another sponge to wipe the last bits of soap from her fur, and jumped to the ground after that.  
The demigods walked away to a distance that felt far enough, and after that Percy signaled to Mrs. 'O leary that she was free. The hellhound ran away, with her tongue out of her mouth, running of into Camp Half-blood (and also into the sunset, because the sun had started setting).


	54. Truth, Dare or your Dignity As An Olympian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Olympians participate in a game of truth or dare.

Apollo looked straight into Demeters' eyes. She looked nervous. Apollo opened his mouth, but closed it again. Demeter adjusted her dress. Hera and Artemis, who were sitting next to her, shot her concerned looks. Apollo took a deep breath, and said: 'Demeter, I dare you to go down to camp Half-blood and steal your signed mythomagic card from the kid that is dating my son.' Demeter looked behind her throne, as if there would be an entirely different Demeter over there. After that, she got up and flew down to camp Half-blood.  
Artemis, who had been holding her breath, let it go, and looked at her brother. He was always so weird during truth or dare. After Demeter had told him she wanted a dare, she had been afraid that Apollo would let his aunt do the chicken dance in front of Olympus dressed as a rabbit, preferably with Beyoncé. Demeter appeared in front of them again, with the card in her hands. 'I had to promise on the river Styx I would give it back, so I hope your happy, Apollo.' Apollo nodded. 'I am.' Demeter looked around the room, until her eyes found those of Ares. 'Ares, truth or dare?'  
Ares almost spat out his cocktail (it had fire in it. He thought it was cool). 'Um, er... I, eh... truth?' Demeter tapped her finger against her cheek. 'Tell us how exactly you lost against that Jackson kid.' Ares got as red as a strawberry. 'No!' 'That's fine. You can also tell us about your last date with Aphrodite.' Ares got even redder than he already was, and on the other side of the room Aphrodite blushed to the roots of her hair. 'Well, um... you had that little brat... no offence, Poseidon. He dug his sword into my ankle, and it hurt and I ran away. The end.' Ares quickly got up, mumbling something about getting more cocktails. He ran out of the room.  
'Now who gets to ask somebody truth or dare?' Aphrodite said, with a whiny tone in her voice. Hermes jumped up. 'I claim this opportunity as my own. Athena, truth or dare?'athena dug hair nails into her throne. 'Dare.' 'I dare you to go into the ocean and hug Poseidon really tight.' Athena let out a yelp, but she walked out of the throne room anyway. Hermes got something from under his throne - a screen and a projector. 'I clipped a camera to her clothes when she wasn't looking,' he said. He turned on the projector, and it showed Athena walking around in Poseidon's' palace. She walked into his throne room. 'Athena, what are you doing here?' Poseidon asked her. Athena took a deep breath, ran towards him, held him for a few seconds, and than ran out of the throne room screaming.  
She arrived back on Olympus, and found the other Olympians laughing like crazy. She saw the projector and the screen, and almost pulled her hair and of her head. After Hermes had cleaned everything up, Athena looked straight at Aphrodite. 'Aphrodite, truth or dare?' Aphrodite smirked. 'Dare.' 'I dare you to go to that camp and steal something out of either Chiron's or Dionysus's office.' Aphrodite grinded her teeth against each other, but flew down to earth.  
About twenty minutes later, she came back with a stapler and a locket, plus a completely red face and a few grape vines wrapped around her body. 'What happened?' Hera yelled through the room. Aphrodite held up the trinkets. 'I found these two in about two minutes, but when I walked out of that house Dio noticed me and thought it would he absolutely hilarious to drive me so crazy I did the chicken dance in front of that entire camp, but with vines wrapped around my body, so I would constantly trip over my own feet. Eventually Chiron noticed and told him to stop, and he did, but, like... arrrghhh!' She screamed, and the other Olympians backed into their thrones.  
Aphrodite looked around the room, and saw that Ares had returned. 'Ares?' Ares sighed. 'Dare.' 'I dare you to get this locket and the stapler and return it to camp.' Ares got up, grabbed the stapler and the locket and got down to the camp again.  
He came back to Olympus with a bewildered expression on his face. Hera walked up to him and snapped her fingers. His expression got slightly less blank. 'I accidentally crushed both that stapler and the locket. Dionysus didn't take it very well.' 'Maybe we should stop this, because I see Poseidon marching up to the throne room and he doesn't look very happy,' Hephaestus remarked. Silently, the Olympians got out of their thrones, and walked out of the room before Poseidon could reach it. He was pretty confused when he found the throne room completely abandoned.


	55. Youtubing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper tells Jason of YouTube. He gets excited about it.

Jason was walking towards the Aphrodite cabin. He opened the door, and saw that Lacy was the only one in her cabin. She was standing in front of a table filled with make-up, in front of a camera. 'Hey, Lacy, where's...' Lacy leaned over the table and pushed a button, so that the camera stopped running. 'Yes?' She asked Jason. 'Um... whereks Piper? And what are you doing. Lacy smiled. 'I a recording a youtube video, and Piper said that she was going to look in the Zeus cabin. Jason thanked her and turned around, with still no idea what Lacy had been doing.  
'Piper?' Jason stopped. 'Why does the statue of Zeus wear sunglasses?' Piper shrugged. 'I thought it was funny. Don't you know Percy put sunglasses on the bust of Poseidon as well? And that he wrote 'broseidon' under it?' Jason nodded. 'Piper, do you know what 'youtube' is?' Piper raised her eyebrow. 'You don't know what that is?' 'Why would I be asking it if I already new?' 'Youtube is a medium to watch videos on, and you can also upload them. Well, you need to upload them outside of camp, because you need WiFi and everything...' jason grabbed her hand. 'Let's go to the closest Starbucks. Can you show me it over there?'  
Piper took a bite out of her muffin, and opened her laptop. 'Are you allowed to have that in camp?' 'If I don't put it on. Don't worry, I asked Chiron.' She logged onto the free internet, and got her headphones from her bag. 'The youtube channel from the Aphrodite cabin is called MakeUpForLifeAndLove, I thought. It teaches you how to apply make-up so everyone will swoon for you, or something.' She found the channel, and watched the newest video on there - the one Lacy had been recording when Jason had walked in. She talked about how to apply lip liner for about 5 minutes. Jason thought it was rather boring, but he also supposed it was handy if you needed to apply lip liner.  
Piper closed down the video. 'It is not just make-up people talk about. I am pretty sure a lot of people in camp have youtube channels. She typed in another address: SeaweedbrainLovesUnicornFluffAndWiseGirl. 'This is Percy's channel, which you can probably see by the weird name. Doesn't it just sound like somebody didn't care what they were typing?' Jason laughed. Piper showed him the channel. 'It's mostly marine biology, and some fits of randomness. Oh, and also this one video where he explains how he got blue streaks and that he is going to get revenge. That video almost went viral.'  
'This is GhostKing123, which is Nico's channel. He makes a lot of mythomagic videos with RayOfSunshineRainbow, which is Will's channel. The apollo cabin also has a channel which they share with all of them, on which they explain medical stuff. This over here is the account of Camp Jupiter. Only Half Bloods can see it. It is build to scout new people. They upload videos about what happens in camp and things like that. The hunters of Artemis have a similar thing, but Camp Half-blood doesn't have something like it.' 'Why not?' Jason asked. Piper took a sip of her coffee before answering. 'Because Chiron is paranoid about phones and the internet. I thought you knew that.'  
'Here is Annabeth's channel: OwlsAndMe. She mostly explains stuff, about everything. Lots of Greek Myths, as well.' Jason was sitting next to Piper like a young puppy. 'I want to make videos as well!' Piper giggled, and made an account for him. 'What do you want your channel name to be?'   
Piper and Jason got out of the Starbucks. Jason was excited; He couldn't wait to make his first video for LightningMan1234494949.


	56. Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quite a few feelings are spilled during Thanksgiving in camp Half-blood.

Before the meal even started, you could feel the tension in the air. There were never a lot of demigods at the thanksgiving dinner in camp, because even a few of the year-rounders wanted to go home to their family during this time. That was probably for the better, because thanksgiving meals in camp Half-blood had the tendency to get crazy. The heroes were often the first to arrive. After that, Chiron entered the pavilion, closely followed by Dionysus, who always looked like he hated the fact that he wasn't on Olympus in the moment.  
Everyone sat down, except for Chiron. He smiled at everyone, while the tension was rising. 'I hope the meal tastes as good as it always does. Now, happy thanksgiving!' He sunk down into his wheelchair-form, while nobody dared to eat. Chiron always took the first bite, and only after that did the rest start to eat. The tension was still rising, while the soup started to quickly disappear into everyone's stomach.  
When the tension was at its highest, everybody stopped eating, until one of them finally jumped up, almost knocked the soup of the table, and screamed: 'I am the captain of thanksgiving!' This year, that was a boy from the Aphrodite cabin. He couldn't go home because of his transphobic father, who kept insisting he was a girl. Everyone at the table sighed. 'What do you want?' Will Solace asked, while Nico shook his head slowly (Nico was of the opinion that Will was the best person to be around on Thanksgiving, and Will's mother was on a tour and didn't have the time to stop right now).  
Harper grinned and looked around the table. 'I want everyone to honestly tell if they would rather be with other family or not.' Harper sighed sorrowfully. 'Sometimes I wish my dad wasn't such a piece of trash, so that I could be with him. Yet, he is, so I am here.' Harper sat down, and pointed at a girl on the other side of the table - a daughter of Hecate. 'Well, I would like it if my father was still alive,' she said quietly. She sighed. 'I mean, I don't really remember him, and the first thanksgiving I ever celebrated was over here, but I sometimes still wonder how things could have been if she was still here.' Everyone stayed silent for a while, until the girl pointed at Clarisse, on the other side of the table.  
Clarisse studied her fingernails. 'I still think this "Captain of Thanksgiving" thing is stupid, no matter how many times we do it. I mean, it is not like any other normal family does it.' A hephaestus boy on the other side of the table laughed. 'We aren't exactly a standard American family, are we?' Clarisse rolled her eyes. 'I noticed it. Of course I wish I could be with my mom, but my family always goes to the same city in the north and it is infested with monsters. I am not able to set a single foot there without being attacked, and everyone except from my mother just thinks that I am beating up piglets with a paintbrush, because of the mist.' She looked at her food, which had just turned into the second course.  
Everyone kept silent for a while, until Clarisse said: 'but at least I get to see her sometimes. So, sunnyboy, what's your story?' 'My mom's on tour, and I truly wish her a successful career, because she deserves it. She tries to see me as often as possible, so I don't really blame her for it.' Will pointed at Logan, the Hephaestus child. 'Well, Logan?' 'I am happy here, and don't wish to return to my mother's house. I am not saying anything else about it. Go for it, Nico.' Nico rolled his eyes. 'I am with Clarisse on this one. This is incredibly stupid. And I guess I would really like Bianca to still be alive, so she could eat Thanksgiving dinner with us. I don't really know how that would have turned out with my mom, though - it was world war two time and all.'  
Nico smirked and pointed to Dionysus, who had mostly tried to stay out of the discussion. He Drummed on the table with a spoon. 'I don't want to be here, never, and you all know that. Yet, the Olympians have the annoying habit to bicker even more than they usually do on Thanksgiving, and after everyone has had a few drinks things start to get... more out of hand than they usually do.' He paused. 'Alright, it is disastrous on that mountain with Thanksgiving. If Ariadne would be in this camp every thanksgiving, I don't think I would bother to miss that place. Yet, she isn't, so I still do.'  
Eileen, the daughter of Hecate, started laughing. 'How wild do gods get on this day for some of them to just rather not be there?' Dionysus shrugged. 'The year before I left Hera threw an entire turkey at Hercules head because he was chewing to loud. In that same year, Athena forced everyone to listen to a tipsy rant about children these days for an hour. The only reason I stay throughout the entire party is because it is extremely entertaining and dramatic, but people like Artemis, Hecate, Hephaestus and even my Ariadne just go home after the second course.' 'I want to see that someday,' Logan said, laughing. 'Yet, Chiron, you are the last one to tell us something.'  
Chiron smiled, as the turkey arrived on their plates. 'I've been to a few Olympian thanksgiving parties too, and the year where Ares started to drunkenly flirt with Artemis, to which she responded by knocking him over the head with her quiver, was very memorable, although maybe not for the right reasons. But, I haven't been to one of those in forty years, and I realised that that is because over-the-top parties on Olympus are nothing compared to celebrating thanksgiving with my own demigod group. I wouldn't trade you all for nothing.' When Chiron stopped, everyone except for Dionysus and Clarisse started clapping. Clarisse stuck her tongue out. 'That's so cheesy!'  
It stayed silent for a while. 'Let's do something with less emotional baggage next year,' Will remarked. 'I remember that last year I was the captain of Thanksgiving and I just asked everybody why they liked pumpkin pie.' Everybody else nodded. 'Sounds like a plan to me,' Eileen answered.  
After the desert with extra pumpkin pie, the demigods all fell on their beds. Some immediately fell asleep, others thought about things for a while. After an hour, Nico decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep, walked over to the Apollo cabin, snuggled up to Will and proceeded to immediately fall asleep over there. Chiron woke up around 3 'O'clock, when he heard someone stumble around in the living room. He opened his bedroom door, and saw Dionysus walking through the hallway. They made eye-contact, but Chiron closed his eyes and quickly closed his door again. If Zeus didn't want Dionysus to see his wife, he should get better security, he thought as he walked back to his bed again.


	57. Divine Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving on Olympus does not stay calm for long.

Athena sipped her nectar. Her eyes darted around the room. She knew something had to go wrong this evening, even though she didn't know what yet. She thought of the past few years of Thanksgiving on Mount Olympus. People throwing turkeys, getting beaten with quivers, everyone in the room being bathed in punch. Athena shivered when she thought of all the fruit dripping from her hair. She sighed deeply. A long time ago, she had (stupidly enough) sworn to Poseidon that she would come every single year until everyone had been the cause of drama once. And seeing how Hestia was to sweet to ever anger someone, or get angry herself, Athena knew she was stuck going to the thanksgiving party forever.  
From the corner of her eye, Athena saw that Ares was approaching. She straightened her back. Her we go again, she thought. 'Athena! Why are you just zstanding in zthis corner, alone without fwiends?' He asked, with a double tongue. Athena rolled her eyes. 'Go back to your stone and leave me alone, Ares.' 'That rhymed!' Apollo came running by. 'I never knew you had it in you to be a poet, Athena!' He yelled. Ares grabbed the god of poetry by his arm. 'I waz ztalking to Athena, Zunnyboy! He screamed, so loud that Demeter and Hermes turned their heads around and stopped squabbling about the right value for tulips. Apollo shrugged and grinned mischievously.  
Athena power walked away from her brothers, feeling that there was a fight on the horizon. She didn't get far, because after a few seconds Hera announced that the first course was ready and that everyone had to come to the dinner table. Athena walked over to the table. She saw that there was a space next to Hestia, and started running. If you sat next to Hestia, it was guaranteed that everything would be less hectic - that was just the effect the goddess of the hearth had on people. Sadly enough, Hermes sprinted past Athena and sat down next to Hestia before she could. He pulled a silly face at his older sister, who was forced to sit somewhere else.  
Athena looked around the room, only to realize that the only space left was in between Hephaestus and Amphitrite, the latter with her husband right next to her. With a dark expression, Athena sat down. Amphitrite shot her a look like Athena was the weirdest thing she had ever seen. Hephaestus didn't dare to look at her. Before anyone could say something, Zeus stood up, ready to give a speech.  
'Fellow Olympians and other gods! I am happy to announce that all of us are here for thanksgiving again! Well, almost all of us, seeing as how Hades is still in the underworld, Persephone is there with him and I banned Dionysus, but that's not important!' Athena groaned and sunk deep into her chair. Her father's speeches might just be the worst thing about thanksgiving. They were always full of mistakes, seemed completely improvised and he insisted on giving at least three per Thanksgiving, while they gradually became more and more illogical as Zeus got more than a little tipsy.  
When the king of the gods was finally done speaking, the first course magically arrived on their plates, and everyone started with their soup. The tension in the air was almost physical. Suddenly, Poseidon jumped up from his chair, and pointed at Nike, who was saying something to one of Janus's heads. 'Nike! You are gossiping about me! I see that you are pointing at me with that spoon!' Nike shot him a weird look. 'I wasn't. I was talking about the pumpkin pie for the last course, because that is each year really good.' Poseidon pulled his mouth open again, but closed it when he remembered that this was Nike and she would win the argument no matter what he said next.  
After a few minutes of silence, some people started whispering, and that quickly turned into a lot of noise from conversations. Athena looked at the person sitting next to Hephaestus, which was Artemis. 'Arty, did anything happen in the forests this year?' Artemis rolled her eyes. 'Let me tell you about this weird running-in I head with a bunch of opera-loving freaks.' After a few minutes of talking, Apollo heard what his twin sister was saying. 'Arty, I send those to you as a gift! Did you really blast them to Australia?' Artemis gave him a weird look. 'Those things are your creation? Also, don't call me Arty.' 'They are, and I loved them! They can sing any opera you want!' Artemis gave him such a dark look that Apollo didn't start about them again, at least not until the next morning.  
After the first three courses, the turkey finally arrived. Athena took a bite. It was just as tasteful as always, but something was of. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was of, just that something was. She took a sip of wine. That tasted completely normal (even though the quality seemed to go down every single year Dionysus was gone. Athena had the theory that it would be undrinkable by the time Dionysus could come back, as a form of petty revenge for banishing him). She tasted another bite of turkey, and realised what was wrong with it. She jumped up. 'Poseidon, you stupid fish, you poured seawater into my plate of turkey!'  
Poseidon bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. 'Do you have proof, Athena?' 'There are four people at this table with control over the sea, and you are the only one who would try this kind of thing!' Athena bellowed. Poseidon shrugged. 'Sit down, both of you!' Demeter screamed from the other side of the table. Both Poseidon and Athena got ready to chew her out, but they heard a small cough coming from Hestia's direction. Immediately, they sat down and silently went back to their food. Hestia smiled, while Hermes was trying to contain his laughter.  
After the desert, the gods that didn't have a pounding headache from different arguments and those five slices of pumpkin pie that were being thrown around walked over to the ballroom. Not that there was going to be a lot of (sober) dancing, but it was the room were everyone could stand in without being squished together. Athena looked around, sipping from her glass. She sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She put her hand to her hip, only to realize that she had in fact been hit with one of the pumpkin pie projectiles. She looked around the room.  
In one corner, Aphrodite was making out with some minor god. Ares was picking a fight with Hermes and Apollo at the same time, while Artemis was screaming at them to stop and that they were making complete fools of themselves. Zeus was flirting with some nymph, which Hera had just noticed. Demeter was running out of the room, angrily wiping some pie out of her hair. In the middle of the room, Nemesis had picked up a tray of sausages - and she threw them all at Poseidon, who was holding something in his hands. Athena didn't even care to look at what it was. She walked out of the room, thinking that if the goddess of revenge must be angry that it meant Poseidon did something as well. Just as she left the room, a piece of sausage hit her in the head and stayed in her hair.  
Athena was walking back to her palace, when she saw a dark figure sneaking around the palaces. She rolled her eyes. 'Dionysus, hey! I will keep silent about this if you let me eat thanksgiving dinner in Camp Half-blood next year!' She yelled. Dionysus stopped, and nodded at her. Athena grinned. Maybe next year, she could be free from everyone on mount Olympus during Thanksgiving.


	58. Piper and A Talent Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper is tricked into being on a talent show.

Piper stood in the changing room of a talent show. She sighed. She didn't know how Hazel and Annabeth got her to do this. Wait - she did know how, she just didn't understand why she gave in.  
Two days earlier, both girls had walked up to her. 'Hey, Pipes, do you want to come to the beach with us?' Hazel asked, with a smile that was just a tat to wide. Piper immediately felt something was up, both nodded and came along anyway.  
Annabeth walked on her right side, and Hazel on her left, like they didn't want her to walk away. The suspicion Piper felt grew, but she didn't think Hazel and Annabeth would do anything.  
As soon as they entered the beach, she saw that a lot of people were standing on the Beach. She immediately recognised Martin - he was a friend of her father, and she knew that he ran a talent show. The group turned around, and looked at the group of three girls. They all started cheering, and held up a sign.  
As soon as Piper read what the sign was saying, her mouth fell open. 'Does that really read 'you are entered into the Magical Talent Show?' 'Maybe,' Annabeth said. Piper shook her head. 'No. I am not doing it.'  
'But Pipes, your voice is so pretty!' Hazel said. 'You like to sing karaoke wherever we go.' Piper shook her head wildly. 'No.' 'You can always sing that you don't want to get through, with some charmspeak,' Annabeth smooth-talked. Piper thought about that. She looked at the huge group in front of her. 'Okay, I will do the first round. She looked at her friends. And only the first rounds.'  
And so, two days after that, Piper heard someone yell her name from a place close to the stage. She got up. She looked at her clothes. Well, at least she didn't look very bad. The make-up artists and clothing directors hadn't put layers upon layers of makeup and clothes realising Piper looked best when she was wearing something simple, even though 'simple' meant something else to make-up artists than it did to everybody else.  
She was wearing a silver top that slipped of one shoulder, with long sleeves, and a pair of black shorts. She wore black dr. martins with silver shoelaces, and a nice black necklace. Her brown hair was braided, but the braid hung freely over her shoulder. She wore a basic layer of makeup, but one of the make-up artists had stuck a black star on her left cheek.   
She walked through the hallway, realising that it would be made highly dramatic on the television. She arrived at were the woman was standing. She was wearing a lot of makeup, but her clothes were relatively plain. Piper had to give in that it even looked comfortable.  
The woman lead her onto the stage. Piper heard her name being announced, and saw the jury in front of her. She knew all of them, but she almost screamed when she saw her dad. She quickly smiled over that, and waited until the woman stopped waffling and she could start singing.  
After what felt like an hour, the lights dimmed and Piper started her song. It was something she had quickly written herself, with some not completely voluntary help from Annabeth and Hazel. It was a song in which she basically said that she didn't want to go further with this Talent show, and she put some slight charmspeak into her lyrics.  
By the end, the entire jury got the hint and Piper didn't go through to the next round. When she walked out of the building, she saw that Hazel and Annabeth were both standing there. 'And? Did you like it?' Hazel asked. Piper shrugged. 'It was kind of fun, but...' before she could finish her sentence, her father walked out of the building.  
He hugged his daughter. 'Pipes, why didn't you tell me that you were going to sing on the competition?' Piper hugged her father back. 'It was kind of on extremely short notice. How does that show do it?' Her father smiled. 'You sang very well. You really didn't want to go further, didn't you?' Mr. Mclean winked, and walked back into the building.  
Piper looked at the closed door. 'You know, sometimes I wonder how much he really knows,' she told Annabeth and Hazel.


	59. Capture the Heart... I mean, the flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making out during capture the flag is not allowed, but that does not stop people.

Percy walked over to the pavilion, with a blue helmet. The Apollo cabin had captured the flag last week and that way they won from the Ares cabin, making it so that the children of Apollo had to pick an opponent from the group that had previously helped them. So, this week, it was Athena against Apollo, with Athena representing the red side, and Apollo the blue side. First, people had been surprised when Percy chose the side of Apollo. When the feeling of surprise drained away however, everyone just got really afraid.  
The allies of the Apollo cabin were Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Tyche, Hermes, Hypnos, Iris and Hephaestus. The allies of the Athena cabin were Hades, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Nike, Hebe, Morpheus, Eros and Zeus. They were all collected in the pavilion, where Chiron was explaining the rules as usual: no maiming or killing, no staying in the forest after the game, weapons are allowed, bla-die-bla most demigods had heard it all before. Annabeth and Will were standing in the middle of the pavilion, because they were the leaders of the opposing cabins, but neither of them were looking at each other - Annabeth only had eye for Percy, and Will only for Nico.  
Chiron gave the sign that the game could begin, and the campers spread through the woods. A lot of them were very passive, like they were waiting for a storm to start - and that's because they were. They all knew Will and Nico, and more so Percy and Annabeth, would start seeking for each other real quick. It was a long-standing tradition that the two couples looked out for each other if they were on opposing teams during capture the flag.  
The first to find each other, were Nico and Will. They held the usual couple battle: a lot of screaming and fake punching each other until one of them gave in and hugged the other. A wave of relief went over the other campers: now that one couple had fought it out, they could try to actually play capture the flag. The fact that Annabeth and Percy were also on opposing sides, was casually forgotten.  
Eventually, the Athena cabin caught the flag, and they brought it back to camp accompanied by a lot of loud war-cries and other noises. The Apollo cabin and their allies were angry, but there wasn't a lot they could do about it. Chiron clapped, and after that asked the cabin to reorganise - that way they could see if someone was missing.  
After a quick check-up, the campers realised that two Aphrodite girls, one son of Hebe, and Percy and Annabeth were missing. The campers shot each other scared looks - Percy and Annabeth being gone didn't promise a lot of good things, most of the time. Dionysus sighed and walked into the forest - since Chiron had been bitten by a snake in there, the centaur refused to go in as long as someone else was still able to do it. As such, Dionysus had taken over the duty of making sure all the children were safely outside of the forest.  
Percy was still roaming around in the forest. He was pretty sure the game of capture the flag was over, but he knew that his girlfriend was still out there somewhere, ready to punch his arm for choosing another side. That wasn't even the really scary part - it was more tradition that he tried to get away from her as long as possible. Percy arrived at the little lake, and stood still. This was the place where he was first claimed. He remembered standing in the lake, with the sign of his dad above his head - it was a weird thought that he had been just twelve back when. He wanted to walk further, but was interrupted by someone jumping from the shadows.  
Not so far from the little lake, the two daughters of Aphrodite and the son of Hebe were running for the lives, away from a huge hellhound. Luckily for them, Dionysus found them and send the hellhound back to Tartarus. Because of the chance that they got lost again, he made all three of them follow him and try to find Percy and Annabeth, which proved to not be much of a challenge.  
Annabeth had found Percy and attacked him immediately. She pushed him against a tree, where Percy decided to use his last card in the hope it would work: hugging her. It did, in fact, work. Annabeth dropped her weaponry, and hugged him back. Percy leaned in, but just as they wanted to kiss, they heard a scream coming from behind them - they got busted by one of the Aphrodite girls.  
The girl blushed. 'Sorry, I thought you guys were some kind of monster. I, er...' her sister, the Hebe-boy and Dionysus came out of the forest as well. The aphrodite girl and the Hebe boy giggled - Dionysus just sighed. 'I hope you two know that you two aren't the first couple to be found making out in the woods, and you two also know what the former couples got when they were caught, I presume?' Percy and Annabeth nodded. 'A week of cleaning duty, one as a dishwasher and the other one in the stables,' Annabeth mumbled. Dionysus nodded. 'You two get to fight out who does what.'  
The next day, Percy was silently throwing a new batch of hay into a stable. The entire camp knew what had happened the day before, because of the feared List Of People Who Caught A Heart Instead Of A Flag, which was a list where everyone who ever got caught making out in the woods got written up on. So far, fourteen names were on it - Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase being the last to be added. Percy grinned. Being on that list meant two things for campers - on one hand, it was a bit shameful, seeing as how you were yet another couple who thought they could make out in the woods, only to be caught by Dionysus, who had so far caught every single couple making out in under fifteen minutes. On the other hand, the entire camp could see that the couple was official - and that also meant something, at least to Percy.


	60. Camp Half-blood's Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small ghost drifts around camp half-blood.

The Ghost glanced downstairs, from the living room in the Big House. Argus, Chiron and Dionysus were all standing there. The Ghost watched as Dionysus told the others something. Argus shrugged, and Chiron nodded understandingly. 'I heard of the problem. So Zeus needs you there? Well, then Argus and I are alone...' Dionysus nodded, and walked out of the room. The Ghost chuckled softly. She might be able to walk around now.  
The Ghost had been on the attic with the oracle for a very long time, but sometimes got downstairs to look at camp. She had to be careful, though - She knew that Dionysus was in camp, and she also knew that gods were able to expel ghosts back to the Underworld, and, being the god of madness, Dionysus wasn't bad in recognising when something was a ghost.  
Yet, after that, Rachel became the new oracle, and The Ghost was alone again. She stopped making trips down to camp, scared that if she got caught nobody would protect her.  
Yet, now the god was gone. The Ghost decided that she would go downstairs again. Because she hadn't been downstairs in a long time, she thought that the Hades and Hecate cabin didn't exist, and therefore there would be nobody to get her back to the Underworld.  
After Chiron and Argus had left for the lunch, The Ghost went downstairs. She looked around the room for a few seconds. It looked very different than she remembered. There hadn't been grapevines and a panther head the last time she was here. The panther head started growling at her. The Ghost screamed and ran outside.  
She saw people to the right, and therefore she took of to the left. Her white dress flowed around her pale legs, while she ran to the lake. She stopped running, and looked behind her. She realised no panthers were following her, and stood still. She sighed, and decided to go take a look at the humans she heard on the right.  
She tiptoed around the Big House and the Strawberry fields, and saw the pavilion. She heard children smile, and walked over to the pavilion. She hid behind one of the white curtains, and watched the campers. While she looked at them, she realised that there were more tables than there used to be. She recognised the table of Iris - the children's clothes were so colorful that they were hard to miss.  
After that, she immediately realised that there were children of Hecate and Hades in the camp. She accidentally screamed. Immediately, twenty campers jumped up, eleven realised she was standing there, and the one Hecate camper that had jumped up immediately captured her.  
The Ghost started crying. A lot of the campers were crowding around her, and quickly enough Chiron came trodding through the ocean of campers. He gave The Ghost a stern look. 'Who are you, what are you and what are you doing here?' He asked, with a stern tone.  
The Ghost started to cry louder. Chiron told everyone to go further with the lunch, except for the Hecate camper - he signed her to come with him to the Big House. With a bowed head, the girl walked along with them.  
Inside of the Big House, Chiron repeated his questions - in a softer voice this time. The Ghost held back her tears, and started to talk in between sobs:  
'I am a ghost, I don't know what my name is and I am here because I died here. I, just... I never went to the Underworld, and I don't want to go there. I will lose everything else I know, and I like the earth, and the Underworld is gloomy, and...' the girl started bawling again, even louder this time.  
Chiron sighed. 'Well, I understand the Underworld isn't fun, but... I don't think Hades will like it if you don't go there. Dead people aren't supposed to roam around in the mortal world, after all...' The Ghost shivered, and said: 'Yes, but, if I go there now, he will send me to the fields of punishment! He-he will think I t-tried to cheat De-Death and I didn't I swear... I am still dead, just a... a spirit... only the gods, magical creatures like you and the children from Hecate and Hades can see me, so, er...'  
Chiron stopped her there. 'Say, I do recognise your black hair and blue eyes... are you Penelope, daughter of Hecate, was around in camp during the first ten years of the twentieth century?' The Ghost shrugged. 'I don't know... my name. I am... was... a daughter of Hecate, and I am also... from that time you mentioned. So... I guess I am Penelope, then.' She said the last thing with more confidence, as if it felt right.  
Chiron nodded, suddenly with a sad expression in his eyes. 'I knew you went missing. After six days of searching through the camp, we all just... gave up. We thought you had fallen into the ocean, or fell into a hole somewhere - unable to reach you without more victims falling. We didn't think you'd eventually turn into a ghost.' Penelope shrugged. 'I wouldn't be the first one to disappear.'  
Chiron looked like that was a contagious point. 'Luckily, nobody has disappeared inside camp for seventy years.' Chiron looked at the ceiling, like he was thinking about something. 'I guess you can stay in your own cabin, but I will talk to Hades - maybe I can get him so far that he won't let you go to the fields of punishment of let you lose your memories. I will tell everyone about this - that nobody gets afraid as soon as they see something fly around. And I will inform Dionysus, of course... he is in our camp.  
Penelope nodded. 'I know that.' Chiron looked at her. 'You know, maybe you and I should talk about what you know for some time. He nodded at the other Hecate camper. 'Tell everyone that they can start with their afternoon activities, and make sure there is another bed in your cabin, please,' he asked him. The camper saluted and walked out of the big House.  
Penelope looked around. 'I think I told you most things I know. Just, there used to be another ghost in the camp, but she disappeared a long time ago. Also, I don't know how I died...' she stopped talking, like she was trying to remember what had happened that day. Chiron tried to push her against her shoulder, but his hand went straight through her body. 'It's fine. Go to your cabin, there is a girl... Lou Ellen is her name. She is the headmaster of the cabin.  
Penelope turned around. 'Thanks. Yes, I am going to go there - I have to know why there wasn't a cabin for the children of Hecate earlier. She darted out of the Big House, leaving Chiron alone to think about this new development.


	61. Scaring The Lord Of The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is almost Halloween. Nico and his underworld bodies decide to prank Hades.

Halloween was approaching, and like each year Nico loved it. He enjoyed the spooky atmosphere, the free candy, the ghosts that secretly walked around on the streets (they all appeared on the twenty-seventh of october and disappeared on one November. Hades had given up on keeping them inside of the Underworld long ago), the free candy, the mist that got weaker and weaker (only to get it's usual strength back by one November) and spending time with Will.  
Nico had spend most of his Halloween-years in camp Half-Blood, but this year he decided that that wasn't the only thing he would do. The idea had been in the back of his mind for a long time, and now he was going to put it to action. He needed Will for it, plus the three demigods that had once helped him to walk Cerberus.  
On the twenty-eighth of October, Nico made sure Will ate a lot and they shadow-traveled to the Underworld after that. They appeared in Elysium, which was exactly where Nico wanted to land. Together, Nico and Will walked through the streets, which had been severely spookified for Halloween. First, they arrived at Silena and Beckendorf's house. Nico knocked. Silena opened the door, and when she recognised Nico, immediately called her boyfriend and pulled them into her house.  
Some of the rooms in the house of Beckendorf and Beauregard were pretty and smelled like roses, while others looked more like little factories. Somehow, it still looked good. Nico quickly explained what his plan was, and the four of them ran out of the mansion. The next house was Castors' place, which looked like somebody just threw three styles together and covered if in grapevines (because that's what happened).  
Silena knocked on the door, and a woman opened the door. Silena talked with her for a bit. 'That's Castor's half-sister, Amelia. She had to many rooms left, so he decided to move in with her. The house is split into two sides, one being in Victorian-English style and the other very modern.' Castor walked past his half-sister, and joined the group. 'I heard something about a plan. What it is?'  
'Lee Fletcher was a very good guy, but I never guessed he would be 'Isles of the Blessed'-good,' Will remarked. Nico shrugged as he and Will ran over to a huge house, even bigger than the most humongous house in Elysium. 'Apparently his soul has earned Elysium three times.' They had already send the other three over to Hades' palace, where they were almost always welcome on part of being Nico's friends, which kept him out of Hades and Persephone's hair.  
Will knocked on the door. Lee seemed surprised to see his brother, and was even more surprised to find out Will wasn't dead. 'Make sure you don't get hungry,' he told his brother as he got out of the house. Will leaned closer to Nico and whispered into his ear: 'If everybody keeps talking about food, I am going to get hungry.'  
As soon as they had reunited with Silena, Charles and Castor again, Nico decided to explain his plan further. 'So. The idea is to scare Hades, and I already know how I am going to do that. Don't worry, I told Persephone about this, and she thought it was hilarious too. We can't trust her completely, obviously, but I think Hades won't blast us to Tartarus. I mean, we also went bungee jumping and kart-racing here, and build a news channel, and whatever else. So I think he will spare us when we only want to give him the ultimate Halloween experience.'  
'Lee, you stand at the music over here' - Nico pointed at an old DJ-stand - 'make sure it is the classical creepy music, or just whatever you found in The Fields Of Punishment. Lee grinned. 'Is my recording of Luke Castelan singing in the shower enough?' Nico's expression darkened. 'That's maybe to creepy. To be honest, I don't even want to know how you got that. Just build up a spooky atmosphere.'  
'Silena, you lead him to the Throne room. Talk over him when he tries to ask questions. Beckendorf, you handle the construction. I assume you can figure out on your own how it works. It will trigger a few scary dolls to fall from the ceiling. So, Silena, make sure he is really distracted, so the surprising element is very big. He is not going to be scared of a few paper dolls.'  
'Castor, you make sure vines grow around his body so he can't move. Than, the dolls will get closer. Lastly, Will, you record everything.' As Nico pushed an old recorder into his boyfriend's' hands, Will coughed. 'Erm, Nico, not to ruïn the fun, but he's a god - won't he just blast everything away?' Everyone stared at him in complete silence. Will coughed again. 'Do you guys just always make up plans and think afterwards?' Lee sighed. 'Will, you finally get it.'  
Smiling sweetly, Silena walked over to Hades. 'Lord, I have a few questions. I understand you need to get to the throne-room, so maybe we can talk along the way?' Hades raised his eyebrow. 'Is this about that stupid newschannel again, or are the five of you trying to get permission to paintball around here?' Silena shot him a shocked look. 'Lord, we would never! Well, accept for that one time...' she muttered behind it. The lord of the dead sighed. 'This is going to get crazy in a few minutes. So, what is the first question?'  
Slowly, Silena and Hades made their way to the throne room. As soon as they entered, Lee started the scary music. Hades sighed. 'What does the machine has to do with anything?' Silena widely opened her eyes. 'What machine?' I don't see any machine!' She said while looking around the room. Hades gave her a stern look. 'Girl, you know exactly what I am talking about. Was this Nico's idea? What's going to happen? How many of you are involved?' Silena gave him a confused look in return. 'Lord, you need to say what you are talking about!'  
Just as Hades was about to tell her to back off and let him work, beckendorf put the machine in action. Four scary dolls flew through the room, all in different styles, even though two were victorian-looking. Hades tried to step away, bit realised he was stuck. Vines had grown around his feet and stuck him to the ground. He sighed again. 'Very funny. I am going to run out of sighs for this century if you kids keep doing this.  
Will rolled his eyes. He jumped on the DJ stand. 'This isn't going to work!' He screamed, while accidently slamming a button. Lee gasped. 'No!' He screamed, while the old music stopped and a new record started playing. Will tried to stop it, but accidently turned the volume up.  
What followed was a horrific sound. It sounded like a dolphin in pain, and the hidden demigods fell out of their hiding spots, holding their hands to their ears. Silena sunk to the ground, Castor and Nico got down from the ceiling, and Beckendorf came from behind the machine. Lee and Will were frantically trying to stop it, while Hades just stood in the middle of the throne room with a horrified look on his face.  
Finally, Lee punched the right button, and the sound stopped. Hades glided over to him. 'What was that?' He asked angrily. Lee grinned stupidly. 'A recording of Luke Castellan singing in the shower. It wasn't supposed to start playing.' Hades turned to Will. 'Can you be even more clumsy?' He asked, while Will ducked away in a corner. Nico walked over to him, and tapped his dad's arm. 'So it was terrifying?' He asked.  
Hades sighed. 'Yes. I guess you succeeded this time.' Will quickly grabbed Nico's hand, and squeezed it tightly. At that moment, Persephone walked into the room. She looked around, saw the ghosts and demigods scattered around the room, the creepy dolls hanging from the ceiling with invisible strings, the music stand, and her husband just standing there looking both impressed, angry and annoyed, and stopped walking. 'What happened?'  
Hades sighed (he was going to run out of sighs before the decennium was over like this) and explained everything. His wife held back a giggle, which Hades noticed and the ghosts and demigods took the chance to sprint out of the room, back to Elysium.  
When they arrived, they stood still. Will looked at Nico. 'I think I am a little hungry now. Let's go back to the surface. The others waved them goodbye, and told Nico that if he had another plan (like playing 'Poor Unfortunate Souls in front of everyone in the fields of punishment, or playing the imperial march anytime Hades entered a room) he should notify them.  
Will wasn't so sure he would be around in the Underworld next time, tough.


	62. Pranking A Couple Of Pranksters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy's revenge on the Stolls comes to action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot does have a few spooky skeletons, but nothing very creepy. Just thought I'd put a little warning over here.

The Stoll brothers were looking forward to Halloween. It was the best evening to prank people, and not a lot of people dared to prank the brothers back. Still, both of them felt like they were forgetting something.  
That something was the hair-dye prank. It had been three months since they had dyed appropriately-coloured streaks into Percy's and Dionysus' hair (in name of Peter Johnson, rest his soul in Camp Jupiter, of course) and even though the magical dye still wasn't fading, the Stolls had forgotten that both of the victims had been set on revenge. Yet, the victims hadn't.  
The reason that they had waited with staging their plan for so long was because they knew the Stolls would forget. Yet, this night, they decided that the Stolls had forgotten enough. So, that evening, Dionysus called the entire Hermes cabin to the Big House, save for the Stolls. The Stolls didn't think a lot of it, at first at least, until they heard something by the door. It sounded like a cat was scratching it. 'That's weird,' Connor muttered to himself. He walked over to the door, and opened it. There was nothing. He shrugged, and closed the door again. A few seconds later, he again heard the sound, but louder this time. This time, Travis walked to the door. He still saw nothing. His brother sighed. 'Maybe there is something on the other side of the cabin?' He suggested. Travis shrugged. 'Let's take a look.'  
Together, they walked around the Hermes cabin. Neither of them would tell the other, but they were both pretty scared about what could be going on. It was almost Halloween, after all. As soon as they reached the back of their cabin, they screamed in unison. There was, in fact, something scratching the walls of the cabin; it was even a cat. Yet, it wasn't exactly a living cat, but instead a skeleton. The Stolls looked around, and saw that there were seven more skeletons dancing around the place. They were literally dancing - Travis was pretty sure two of them tried to do the Macarena. 'Let's get out of here,' he whispered to his brother. Connor nodded, and together they ran away from the skeletons, and, unknowingly, towards their doom (also known as the lake).  
Yet, when they started to run, the skeletons had stopped dancing and started to chase them. The Stolls ran faster, and they started to lose a few of the skeletons, but hadn't accounted for the cat. It was quicker than his bony family, and it jumped around their ankles when it reached the Stolls. That slowed the boys down, and as such it got easier for the other skeletons to catch up to them. After three of them had almost pulled the Stolls down by their ankles, Connor jumped over the cat and started sprinting. His brother quickly followed him, and it was then that they realised they had ran towards the lake.  
As soon as they reached the deck, they started to realize that Percy and Dionysus had not, in fact, forgotten about the hair-dye disaster. And as soon as they started to realize that maybe going to the lake wasn't a very good idea, an enormous wave pulled them in. Both of the Stolls were screaming, but, of course, the sound got muddled under the water. Suddenly, vines grew out of nowhere and curled around their ankles, pulling them down even further. Connor reached towards his throat, but lucky for the brothers two bubbles formed around them, and that way they could breath.  
Travis was the first one to calm down slightly, and he decided to think about the situation for a little while. A bunch of skeletons had chased them towards the lake, they had been thrown in with a wave, after that vines (how did they even grow under water? Travis asked himself) had pulled them towards the bottom and the moment they had really started to need air, the bubbles had formed around them so they could breath. Travis looked to the surface, wondering when he would be let out. Diner had already been served, so he wasn't really worried about food right now, but it couldn't be very comfortable to sleep in a bubble underwater.  
His brother was wondering the same thing. He knew it was the evening of the thirtieth of October. He swallowed. Tomorrow it would be Halloween. He looked down. The vine and the bubble looked kind of nice - like a decoration of some sort. At that moment, he heard something knocking on the bubble. It was Percy. The son of the sea god opened the bubble, and came inside. He was carrying something. When he put it down, Connor saw that it was some orange juice, a few slices of bread, butter and jam, and a little bit of Halloween candy. Percy smiled at him. 'I'll get you out tomorrow morning. Here's a pillow and a blanket.'  
Connor sighed. 'Who thought of what, if I may ask?' 'I asked Nico to summon the skeletons and drive you to the lake so I could pull you into it, and it was Dionysus' idea to put you two in bubbles, put them to the floor with vines and keep you two here for a few hours.'  
'And you went along with that?'  
'These bubbles aren't uncomfortable. Plus you two have food and water.'  
'Isn't it to much for some hair-dye?'  
'Consider it revenge for every prank you two got to play without consequences.' Connor sighed.  
'All right, then.'  
Percy swam to the other bubble to give food and blankets to Travis, and after that swam to the surface. Travis put a single piece of chocolate in his mouth, and layed down with the blanket and pillow after that. It wasn't to uncomfortable. 'I'd rather be on the surface. It is a little moist,' he thought to himself as he fell asleep.


	63. Halloween Costumes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What kind of Costumes do demigods wear?

Percy yawned, while the fins of his Nemo-costume flopped around him. Annabeth smiled. 'Maybe you should go to bed. It is getting late.' Percy shook his head. 'No. I am not going to bed until the Stolls have gone to sleep, because I don't know if they might try to get me back. Annabeth sighed. 'Alright then.' Annabeth wore a costume that made her look a lot like her mother, with a grey helmet and a white chiton, and a red belt around her waist to make it look like less of a tablecloth and more of an actual dress.  
Piper and Jason came walking by, Piper dressed up as the huntress Atalanta and Jason dressed up as Superman (obviously). In the distance, Percy saw Hazel, who was dressed as Cinderella, (with shoes made of actual Glass, made for her by Leo) and Frank, who was wearing a dragon costume. Leo was somewhere in the distance, dressed as a pretty cool robot. It was clear that he had built the suit himselfs, because it could do some very strange things. The weirdest thing about the suit were the jetpack-like things on the back, which after some research, Percy learned were just extra batteries to make sure the same thing didn't happen as had happened with the karaoke in the summer. Calypso was dressed like a woman from an eighteenth century masquerade ball.  
Percy yawned again, and Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Let's take a walk. Maybe it will clear you up a little.' She grabbed his hand, and pulled him along. Percy willingly followed her, humming something. It took some time for Annabeth to realize it was 'Reunited,' By Peaches and Herbs. She blushed slightly and smiled. On her left side, the Stolls were wearing the same costume of Batman, which made it even harder to keep them apart from each other, which was something Chiron was struggling with in that moment. Chiron was dressed as The Headless Horseman, which wasn't a very hard costume to make for a centaur, and even then it looked kind of sloppy. Annabeth guessed that Chiron didn't really like to dress up, but didn't want to disappoint his family.  
They walked into the strawberry fields, which were exceptionally creepy. Most of the nymphs and satyrs had dressed up as ghosts, so it looked like somebody had accidently raised the dead (although Nico mostly raised skeletons, but that's not the point). The Demeter and Dionysus kids were standing in their fields as well, with Hudson right next to them. The children of Demeter were all dressed up as some kind of plant or fruit, which looked silly and horrifying at the same time. When she got closer, Annabeth saw that Meg wasn't dressed up as a fruit, but as Toph from Avatar. It was a pretty good fit.  
The children of Dionysus went kind of crazy with the costumes, which was to be expected from people directly related to the god of theatre. Sheila was wearing a purple, greek-style dress, with vines growing through her hair, bare feet and a golden bracelet around her wrist. Annabeth saw that Pollux was dressed as Zagreus, which was some minor Underworld god with an extremely weird myth attached to him, but the costume still looked good. Hudson was dressed as spider man, which was weird for an Athena child, but then again Hudson was kind of the odd one out.  
Annabeth and Percy finished their round around the lake, and entered the place where most people had gathered. He saw Clarisse in a sloppily made costume of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Chris was wearing a supremely well made costume of Ares, which Annabeth softly giggled about. Clarisse didn't really look like she liked that. Reyna was supposed to be looking over her romans, but looked more like she discussing something with Dionysus. Both of them were dressed as vampires, which Annabeth thought was a funny coincidence.  
After their round around the camp, Percy yawned again. Annabeth pulled in over to his cabin. 'You should go to sleep, Perseus Jackson. Percy looked over at the Stolls, who had apparently lost Chiron. Annabeth sighed. 'I'll stay with you.' Percy changed into his pajamas while Annabeth waited outside of the cabin. After that, she walked inside and fell onto the lower bunk of the bed. After a few minutes, she sighed again, and climbed into the higher bunk, with Percy. They fell asleep after a few minutes, Annabeth still in her Athena-costume.  
On Olympus, the real Athena was currently also lying in her bed. Olympian Halloween was basically a precursor to how crazy Thanksgiving would be that year, and she was scared. Everyone had to be dressed like a fellow Olympian this year - one of Hermes' great ideas. Athena looked at the clothes that had once belonged to Demeter on the floor. There was still a stain of chocolate on it, even though magic shouldn't allow that to happen. She sighed. Maybe she should ask Chiron if she could stay in Camp Half-blood for this Thanksgiving.


	64. Cultural Trip To England

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth and the kanes take Percy and Jason on a trip through England.

Annabeth and Sadie were pushing Percy, Grover and Jason into a plane. 'Come. You three need to see what England looks like. Get some culture into your brain!' Annabeth exclaimed. Percy sighed. 'Annabeth, I am very cultured.' Sadie started laughing. 'Sure. Now get in here.'   
Jason and Grover silently obliged - Percy stopped walking on the middle of the stairs. 'Zeus will strike the plane down.' Jason looked around the corner. 'I don't think so. I can fly a few of you out of the plane and we are going to be above the ocean for most of the trip, so you'll survive.' Percy took a deep breath. 'Hey, walk further!' Somebody screamed behind Percy. He looked around, but at that moment he got pulled into the plane by Annabeth and Sadie.   
They all sat down. Percy insisted on sitting by the aisle. Grover really wanted to sit by the window. Annabeth sat down in between them. Sadie sat down behind Grover. Jason sat right next to her. The very last person to enter the plane was Carter. He sat down next to his sister, who immediately grabbed the bag of candy from his backpack.  
Percy held his breath as the plane took flight. He grabbed the arm rests. His knuckles turned white. Annabeth patted his left arm. 'calm down. Do you really think Zeus would strike down his own son?' Percy looked at her with a terrified look on his face, and he only stopped holding on tightly to the arm rest when they were above the ocean.  
As soon as they landed, Percy jumped up. The flight attendant gave him a dirty look. 'Sit down, please,' She said with a fake smile. Percy couldn't blame her for being annoyed. There had been a group of three men who had been screaming for stuff and catcalling her for the entire flight. Yet, as soon as Percy got out of the plane, he ran into the bagage hall to collect his suitcase. Annabeth was still on the plane, and sighed while picking up Percy's hand luggage.   
When they all got their luggage, Sadie brought them to her grandparents car. They all got in, while Carters' and Sadie's grandma whined about the great amount of people. Sadie rolled her eyes. 'I told you six people would arrive, gran,' she said. Her grandmother rolled her eyes, but she drove all of them to her house.   
Annabeth, Carter and Sadie all slept in Sadie's room. Percy, Jason and Grover all slept in the living room. The next day, they all ate breakfast and after that they went into the city. Annabeth insisted that they went to the British museum first. Sadie sighed extremely deep. 'I went there at least a million times. Do you really need to go there? We could also go shopping on Oxford Street!' Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'I came here so these three (She gestured at Jason, Percy and Grover) could get a taste of culture. We are going to the museum.' Sadie shrugged. 'Al right.'  
Carter was definitely the sibling who liked the museum better, unsurprisingly. He walked to the stone of Rosetta with Jason, who immediately started asking questions about mummies. Sadie darted after them. Annabeth walked to the Roman and Greek expositions of the museum, but only after she gave a detailed explanation about the architecture of the museum. Grover looked like he was listening, but Percy acted like he needed to throw up. 'I am with Sadie, Annabeth. Let's go do something fun.' 'We have enough time to do fun things tomorrow. Today, I am going to show you some history.' Percy sighed dramatically, but realised that arguing wouldn't help.   
After an entire morning in the British Museum, Percy felt like he had learnt enough culture and history for at least five years. Yet, Annabeth was not ready. Far from it. After a lunch at Sadie's favorite restaurant, Annabeth pulled them all towards the Westminster Abbey. Percy almost fell flat on his face when he heard about it. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'After this we will go to the Tower Bridge. We can shop and eat things while walking there.' Percy walked into the abbey with a very bored look on his face.  
Yet, even he had to acknowledge that it was absolutely gorgeous. He came out of the abbey a lot happier than he had felt before he entered it. When they found a MacDonald's on their way to the Tower Bridge, he felt content, for now at least. The rest of the trip to the bridge wasn't very exciting, except for that quick run-in with an unfriendly cyclops.   
At the end of the day, everyone fell on their beds and immediately fell asleep. After a long night, they ate breakfast all over again and went back into The City. This time, they did go to the stores, and immediately Sadie tried to put Carter into a big, fuzzy Christmas sweater. It didn't work, but when she tried to get a big, fuzzy sweater for Jason and Grover, it did work and they both wore it with pride. There were more people on the street already deep into the Jingle-mood, so it didn't raise to many eyebrows.   
Percy bought a normal blue sweater and Christmas presents for Annabeth, his mother, his sister, Paul, Chiron and after some deep thinking, a blue tie for Poseidon. When he told Annabeth about the last purchase, she showed him the owl-keychain she bought for her mom and asked: 'How many neckties did your father receive from you?' Percy thought about that for a few minutes, while watching Sadie asking the other three if her new pink jumper looked smart on her. 'To be honest, Wise Girl, I have no idea. He could probably use them as a carpet by now.'  
Annabeth had also bought Christmas presents for her friends and family. Jason had also bought an ugly Christmas sweater for Annabeth and Percy, but he would give it to them on Christmas day. Grover found an extremely pretty necklace for Juniper. Sadie had a lot of packages, including a supply of British snacks for when she was back in America, while Carter just had a few small things.   
By the end of the second day, Grover, Jason, Percy and Annabeth packed everything up into their suitcase. The next morning, they had their last breakfast in the UK. They rode up to the airport. Sadie and Carter waved them goodbye. Their grandparents had insisted that they would stay in the UK for a few more days. Percy felt even more on edge on the flight back, but made a huge effort to not show it.


	65. Even Chirons' Lessons Can Be Boring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiron gives lessons while the kids are in camp. Even those lessons can be boring at times. Luckily, a few Iris-kids have something planned.

Percy sunk down in his chair. Just as he got a break from the school year by going to camp, he had to sit down in a classroom again. Yet, this time for Chiron's lessons in Greek, Latin, ancient history and Mythology. To Percy, that didn't matter. Classrooms and lessons were boring, no matter who was teaching.  
Chiron walked into the room, and people stopped talking. Percy looked at the white bored (Board. Sorry) and started playing with his hair, which was a habit he had developed from sitting a class a lot. These days, he mostly pulled his coloured streaks, though. Chiron had walked to the front of the room, and was writing something on the bored (Sorry, there I go again). Percy followed the swirly handwriting, and eventually saw what was written: THE GREEK THEATRE.  
A girl in the back of the class raised her hand. 'Yes, Louisa?' Chiron asked. 'Isn't it spelled with E-R instead of R-E?' The girl of about nine asked. 'It can be written both ways. Does anybody else have questions before I start the lecture?' Chiron answered. Nobody said anything. Chiron shrugged, but then the hand of the Lou Ellen, head of the Hecate cabin, went into the air. 'Yes, Lou?' Chiron asked again. 'What if suddenly a Rainbow coloured pony will fly into the room. Will we get excused from the lesson?' Chiron gave her a weird look, full of suspicion, but he nodded. Lou lowered her hand, Seemingly content with the answer.  
At first, Percy was wondering what Lou could be planning, but after four minutes of sound coming from Chiron's mouth about the chorus and tragedies and famous playwrights and how theatre was something very religious to the ancient Greeks, Percy forgot all about that. Now he was just thinking about how boring this is, that teddy bear plush he wanted to give Annabeth was a surprise, how boring this is, the food he was going to eat at dinner, and just how freaking boring this is.  
Chiron wrote the names of a few famous playwrights on the white bored (Oops. I swear on the Styx I won't make the mistake again). Percy slowly picked up his pencil and wrote them down in a nice, blue notebook. Chiron asked his class to write down as many plays of the playwrights he had listed as they knew. Percy wrote down The Iliad and The odyssey behind Homer, Medea behind Euripides, and he didn't get any further. His brain had wondered of again. The teddy bear was so cute, he knew for sure Annabeth would be happy with it...  
Then, Lou raised her hand again. Chiron let out a light sigh before asking her what the matter was. 'Chiron, I think there will be a rainbow pony in this classroom in about ten or fifteen minutes.' She looked very mischievous while she said it. Chiron looked tired when he answered: 'Lou, has the Aphrodite cabin dressed up a pegasus as a My Little Pony again?' Lou's eyes went big. 'Chiron, they would never, er... Again! You know that!' Chiron sighed, harder this time. 'Al right. But let's go further with this lesson, so that we can get as much knowledge inside your heads before the sparkle pony arrives, okay?' 'It's a rainbow pony,' Lou softly muttered after that.  
'Which plays did you all write down?' Chiron asked. A few hands were raised. 'Al right, Holly?' Chiron pointed at a girl on the side of the classroom. The daughter of Nike started rattling of a bunch of plays, and Percy started losing interest again. He didn't notice Chiron asking Holly's twin sister Laurel what she had written down, and he certainly didn't hear Chiron calling out his own name.  
'Percy? Hello, Percy?' Chiron sighed again, even louder this time. 'Perseus Jackson?' Percy shot up, completely forgetting what he had been thinking about. 'What?' 'Can you name some more plays? Some that the twins haven't already told us?' Percy mumbeld the titles of the ones he got. Chiron smiled. 'Well, we already had those two. But we also have Hippolytus, which is about a son of Theseus who doesn't want to marry, and The Bacchae, about Dionysus trying to get revenge on a king...' Percy didn't hear anymore than those two, no matter how hard he tried.  
Without anybody but Lou noticing, twelve minutes passed. Lou pulled a string next to her desk, triggering a light to go on in the Iris-cabin. One minute later, all four children of Iris bursts into the classroom. Chiron stopped in the middle of talking about Hecuba, and gave them a weird look. Butch spread his arms. 'The magical flying rainbow pony has arrived!' He called out. The iris kids magically created a rainbow in the middle of the classroom, and swiftly Lou used the powers of the mist to make it look like a flying rainbow pony. A few of the smaller kids squealed, the twins of Nike roared with laughter. Percy jumped on his desk; things were getting interesting!  
Chiron tried to calm the class down while the Rainbow illusion was flying through the classroom. Lou turned to him. 'Chiron, considering what you said at the beginning of the lesson, I think we can go now.' Before Chiron could say anything, everyone sprinted out of the room. Percy was the first person to reach the door, and ran away to get the teddy bear for Annabeth, who was just done with archery.  
Chiron stayed behind in an empty classroom. He sighed the deepest sigh he had sighed that day, but smiled right after. Gods, I love this job, he thought as he leaned against the white bored (shoot. Gotta run before I am caught by the spirit of the rive...).


	66. Making A Design For A Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth needs to redesign Olympus. Talking to the inhabitants is of course key. How does Hera react to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After The Titan War, On Mount Olympus

Annabeth was running through the gardens on Olympus. She needed to be on time - otherwise Hera would be angry, and that wasn't something you wanted. She passed some of the houses that were still in ruïns - she would have to design those after the queen of the gods had been satisfied.  
Architect on Olympus wasn't an easy job. The Gods were demanding, and sometimes they wanted something that contradicted something someone else said. Annabeth just came back from Athena's place, and she thought that a chunk of land belonged to her, while Hermes had just told Annabeth that he wanted a huge swimming pool over there. When Annabeth had brought this up to her mother, the goddess angrily walked over to her brothers house. After two hours of sqaubelling, Annabeth had told both gods she needed to go to Hera and that this meeting had to be continued at a later moment. Luckily, the Olympians had understood.  
Annabeth arrived in front of a divine café. Hera had insisted on meeting up there, and even though Annabeth had told her repeatedly that it was easier to meet up in her old palace, the queen of the gods couldn't be persuaded into changing her plan. Annabeth looked around, but the goddess was nowhere to be seen.   
Annabeth waited for fifteen minutes. She sighed. She had already prepared for gods showing up late, but this was getting ridiculous. Annabeth had a schedule, and in thirty minutes she had to meet up with Hestia. She waited another five minutes. Just when she was about to write down that she needed to make a later appointment with the goddess, Hera came walking down the stairs to a higher platform (There were a few houses of minor gods on said platform).   
The gods that had been chatting, eating and playing in the middle of the square quickly went out of the way while she marched down the flight of stairs. Hera looked around the place. Annabeth noticed that the gods, goddesses, nymphs and other creatures all looked to their feet as soon as Hera's gaze landed on them. It was clear that Hera had a lot of autorothy, and when she turned to Annabeth, even she felt her shoulders lower under the Queen's gaze. Yet, then she remembered that Hera was the one who almost dropped a statue on her head during the war, and Annabeth straightened her shoulders again.   
Hera treaded over to Annabeth (the demigod truly couldn't use the word 'walk.' The queen of the heavens just doesn't simply 'walk' somewhere) and stopped in front of her. 'Let's sit down, shall we?' She said while walking to the door of the café. She didn't tread through it, but waited in front. After a second, a nymph came sprinting to it and opened the door for the queen, who walked through. Annabeth quickly followed, and could just catch the door before it closed.   
Hera had already chosen a table, which from the looks of it was the table she always sat at. It had a bouquet of lilies and peacock feathers in a vase standing on top. Annabeth sat down on the chair across of her. The daughter of Athena saw a nymph standing in the door to the kitchen. She quickly ran back into the kitchen, and came back with a minor goddess. The goddess walked over to their table. She was the first person that didn't look scared when approaching Hera.   
The goddess smiled to Hera. 'Do you want the same as usual, Mother?' Hera gave her a small nod. 'And what does the young lady want?' the woman asked. 'A cup of tea, please. Without sugar. Earl Grey.' The server giggled. 'You are one of Athena's daughters, aren't you?' Annabeth nodded. 'Are you Hebe?' She asked. Hebe nodded. 'Funny. Not a lot of people recognize me.' She walked back to the kitchen again.  
Hera turned to Annabeth. 'So. I heard you already made a concept design of the new palace.' Annabeth nodded, and got the blue prints and drawings of the house out of her backpack. While the goddess was looking over them, Annabeth looked at her watch. She had seventeen more minutes before she had to leave to go to Hestia. She sighed. The goddess looked up. 'Something wrong?' She asked, with an annoyed tone. Annabeth quickly shook her head. 'No nothing, er... My Queen.' It came out sassier than Annabeth had meant. Hera raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something.  
Luckily, Hebe came back with the tea and a cup of wine at that moment. She put the drinks down. Hebe sighed lightly. 'The quality of wine is still going down. Sorry, mother.' Hebe winked and walked back to the kitchen. Hera took a sip of her drink, while studying a part of a drawing.   
When there were only eight minutes left, Hera pointed at a fountain in a part of the garden. 'The design is fine, but this fountain isn't anywhere else on the property. Maybe you should scrape the other fountains and place this one everywhere. Also, which type of wood do you want to use for the floors?' Annabeth blinked. 'I thought oakwood was a good material.' Hera took another sip of her drink. 'Maybe you should use Birch wood. I think it might suit better.' Annabeth took out her notepad and wrote some things down. Hera rummaged through the drawings and blueprints again. 'Also, who are supposed to be the neighbours?'   
'Zeus on the left and Demeter on the right side,' Annabeth answered. The queen seemed to be content with that answer. 'Alright. It is slightly bigger than the previous palace, but I think there needs to be more room for my lillies and peacocks.' Annabeth slid a drawing towards herself and got out a pencil. The drawing was a small map of the house, made so that she didn't have to doodle on her blueprints. She drew a new wall on it, and erased another one. 'This way there is less space for the bubble bath, but more room for the flora and fauna.'  
Hera looked at it for a minute. In the meantime, Annabeth drank her tea and looked at her watch: There were five minutes left. She swallowed her tea and started to think of appropriate ways to tell Hera that she needed to leave to go talk to Hestia. Annabeth didn't think Hestia would be mad if she was a few minutes late. To be honest, Annabeth wondered if Hestia could get mad at all. Maybe she could get mildly displeased.   
'You could also make the lilies grow around the bubble bath, and put the peacocks in a certain part of the garden.' Hera drew something on the map. Annabeth quickly wrote down the suggestion, and breathed deeply. 'My queen, I am very sorry, but I should go to Hestia. She is waiting for me in, er... two minutes, now.' Hera raised an eyebrow. Annabeth stared at her. The queen of the heavens shrugged, and waved at a nymph for the check (Because even she still had to pay). 'Alright. I'll pay the check. You go to the hearth, I guess.'  
Annabeth put her drawings and blueprints back in her backpack, and got her wallet out. She smacked three drachma's on the table and stood up. 'Tell Hebe she can keep the change..., if you don't mind, lady Hera.' After that, Annabeth walked out of the café. She obviously had to open the door by herself.   
Annabeth walked to the central hearth, in the middle of the square in front of the old, ruïned palaces. As expected, Hestia was already there, minding her own business. Annabeth sighed and sat down in front of her. Hestia looked up and smiled warmly. It was a very special smile, one that makes you feel like you are being wrapped in a warm blanket straight from the dryer. Annabeth felt her muscles relax. All the tension that Hera had caused in her, started to leave her body.  
Hestia noticed, and pulled a blanket out of nowhere. She wrapped it around Annabeth's shoulders, who cuddled up in it. 'That was a very annoying meeting I just had,' She told the goddess of the hearth. Hestia chuckled softly. 'My sister can be… demanding. It wouldn't surprise me if she throws a mountain of knew requirements for the house on you the next meeting. The first talk about her property are the ones where she cares the least, most of the time.' Hestia pushed a cupcake into Annabeth's hands. 'Now show me what you made for me, please.'


	67. Truth, Dare Or The Safety of Olympus?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Truth or dare is more dangerous than you might think...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is a little more dirty, but it does not have a lot of exposure or anything.

Even though the Truth-or-dare games from Olympus always went wrong in some way or another, the gods kept playing them. When they weren't playing, they always remarked how stupid it was, yet as soon as somebody gave the suggestion to play, everyone flocked to the throne room to be that first person to tell someone to dance the Macarena in a frilly pink princess dress. Today, that was precisely the thing Apollo had been ordered to do, and even the god with the least sense of humor had to agree that it looked absolutely hilarious.  
Ares was biting on his lip. Yesterday, he had thrown Apollo's magical jukebox, on which the god of music had been blasting Katy Perry songs for three hours at that point, down from the mountain. Seeing as how Apollo hadn't been to happy with that, Ares was pretty sure he would be the next Truth-Or-Dare victim. Ares was going to say dare, he already knew that. Apollo and his twin sister were the two younger Olympians who always came up with the nastiest truths, the things you were sure you had buried the evidence from. That came in contrast with Hermes and Dionysus, who were better with Dares (well, that is, unless you had wronged Hermes and he had been scanning through your mail and unless you hadn't been to a party in week. Than the two youngest Olympians suddenly became truth masters).  
Apollo came back into the room, still in an extremely silly frilly pink dress (it had matching silk, pink gloves, a sparkling tiara and hot pink heels). As Ares had speculated, Apollo turned to the god of war. 'Truth or Dare?' Ares coughed. 'Dare,' he said, with a lump in his throat. Apollo grinned. 'I dare you to wear one of Aphrodite's shortest miniskirts and a sparkly silver halter top and go to your children at camp Half-blood. Also, ask them for fashion tips.' Ares looked at Apollo with utmost horror in his eyes. Aphrodite jumped of her throne, ran to the other side of the room, and dragged an absolute dumbfounded Ares to her chambers.  
A few minutes later, Aphrodite came back, with a large figure wrapped in a shower curtain next to hair. Apollo clapped in his hands, and high-fived Hermes. Ares flew down to earth, while Hermes put up the screen. 'Let's see how this goes,' he said. Ares came on, and Athena led out a scream and turned her head away. Artemis did the same, although she looked more horrified than her sister. This was the first time Artemis was participating in Truth or Dare, and immediately after seeing Apollo in his ball gown, she had sworn this would also be the last time.  
Ares was wearing a blue mini-skirt and a halter top, and was walking through the camp. A lot of campers screamed and jumped away in shame. At some point, Dionysus and Chiron noticed something was going on, but as soon as they saw Ares both of them wished they had never been curious. Chiron grinded his teeth against each other and trodded away, while Dionysus held his hand for his eyes and wondered how he was going to lose that sight ever in his immortal life. Ares walked all the way to his cabin, and stepped inside. All of his children went silent from shock. At that point, Ares couldn't get the words 'can I get fashion tips' over his chapped lips. Instead, he flew back to Olympus and hid in his room in shame. He didn't come out until six days after this encounter.  
The other Olympians (save for Artemis and Athena, who had decided this was enough) were laughing like crazy in the throne room - until Chiron came trodding through the doors, closing them behind him. He had a serious expression on his face. Zeus stopped laughing, and slowly the rest of the gods did so as well. When everyone was silent, Chiron coughed and started talking: 'Lord Zeus, thanks for your time. A few of my campers came over to me and said, and I quote: 'That was traumatising. I am going to throw up.' So, my humble request is, could you not play games in our camp anymore?'   
Zeus took a sip of his wine, thinking about the request. He opened his mouth to say something, yet then the door of the throne room were thrown open again and Dionysus came running into the chamber. 'Are you playing truth or dare again? Because that was horrifying. Please don't come back to camp, for everyone's safety.' Zeus rolled his eyes. 'How bad was it, really?' Both Chiron and Dionysus started to spit out words, making Zeus even more tired.  
In the meantime, the guards staged around Olympus had dropped their spears. One of the men was holding on to the shoulder of another one, a woman was sitting on the ground with an empty expression in her eyes. After fifteen minutes, one of them turned his head to his colleagues. 'Did we all just see Lord Ares walking around in a miniskirt, or am I going crazy?' A woman turned her head toward him, and nodded. 'We all saw it.'  
While the guards were distracted by Ares, something had snuck past them. A dark spirit glided past the olive gardens and vineyards, steadily walking towards the throne room. A young goddess saw it, but before she could yell, the figure knocked her out. He walked to the main square, in front of the palaces. With a single sweep from his hands, he made on the square fall into a deep slumber.  
Meanwhile, Chiron and Dionysus had stopped ranting, and Zeus had angrily promised not to play Truth or Dare in Camp Half-Blood anymore. Chiron and Dionysus had simultaneously given a 'thank you,' and went back to camp. Aphrodite rolled his eyes. 'Let's go further with the game. Zeus, I dare you to go outside and give the nearest person a red rose!' Zeus looked at Aphrodite. 'I hadn't asked for a truth or a dare yet!' Aphrodite shrugged, and handed him a rose. 'Just go and give it, alright?'  
Zeus walked out of the throne room with the blood red rose in his hands. The first person he saw was the dark figure. Zeus walked over to him and handed him the rose. The dark figure was startled. He held the Rose in his hands, and looked at it. Zeus quickly ran back to the throne room.   
Right when he had left, Hades erupted from the ground. He grabbed the dark spirit, and pulled it down to the Underworld with him. The dark figure screamed: 'So close! I was so close! I almost reclaimed my status!' Hades rolled his eyes and wrapped his hand around the ghosts mouth. 'This is the ninety-sixth time you've tried that. Please stop.'  
In the meantime, Zeus sat down on his throne again. He smiled. 'So, Poseidon, Truth or dare?' Poseidon sighed. 'truth.' Zeus smiled evilly. 'What do you think of that Athena-twat that your son is dating?' Poseidon's face turned very dark. He didn't say anything as he walked out of the throne room and marched all the way back to his palace.


	68. The Grochery Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even Grochery Shopping can't be relaxed when you are a demigod...

Annabeth was looking at the shopping list in the hand. 'So, Percy, we need rice, chicken, milk, apples, chocolate, flour, eggs, blue food colouring, baking butter, sugar...' 'Annabeth, I know what ingredients go in a cake.' Percy was walking to the shopping carts, with a coin in his hands. 'This is going to be fine.' Percy pushed the cart over to her. Annabeth sighed. 'If you say so,' She said, while narrowing her eyes. Percy rolled his eyes. 'Annabeth, I only crashed into the aisle with pastries last time because there were a bunch of blemmy's following me.' 'Sure. But I still take the shopping cart. We can't come home with broken ingredients when they need to be used for a cake for Estelle's birthday, now can we?'  
Annabeth had some experience when going grocery shopping with her boyfriend. There was always some kind of monster following him. It didn't matter to which store they went, it didn't even have to be a grocery store. There had been Blemmy's in Target, Cyclops in Dollar Tree, A few wild Party ponies in Goodwill. Annabeth looked at Percy. It was clear that he was trying to think of monsters they hadn't encountered yet. 'We don't necessarily have to run into something today,' Annabeth mumbeld. Yet, even she knew that that was wishful thinking.   
They reached the eggs, yoghurt and chicken without any incidents. Percy took a deep breath. 'I am going to try to reach the sugar... on my own!' He declared. Annabeth gave him a suspicious look. 'Alright, but try not to get caught by any monsters or gods...' Percy had only heard the 'alright' part. He sprinted down the aisles. It was then that Annabeth remembered that the sugar was on the other side of the Walmart they were currently in.   
Percy felt like eyes were looking at him from everywhere. While he had his way to the sugar, he started running even faster. He almost collided with a mother with a toddler in her shopping cart. He stopped just in time, but the toddler dropped his plush starfish. He started crying, but Percy swiftly picked up the plush, gave it back to the child, stumbled a 'sorry' to the mother (who was giving him a seriously nasty stare) and continued to run further.  
Annabeth saw her boyfriend running harder and harder from the grocery aisle. She turned around, to the broccoli, determined to not look at how many things Percy would run into. She grabbed a cauliflower and threw it in the cart. After that she proceeded to grab some oranges, but was stopped by some seriously sharp teeth in her hand.  
In the meantime, Percy had just reached the sugar. He grabbed a pack, and started to sprint back to the cart and to his girlfriend, full sonic-mode. While he was running, he passed the mother and the toddler again. The mother shot him a dirty look. 'You shouldn't be running in a Walmart without good reason. She pitched up her nose and grabbed a bag with rice cakes from a shelve. 'I have a good reason, ma'am,' Percy said as he was running by. Just when he said it, he heard Annabeth scream from the grochery aisle.   
Annabeth had never grabbed her knife so quickly. She looked at the thing before she stabbed, and realised it was an extremely small Harpy. She lowered her knife. The harpy let go of her hand. It started bleeding, but the harpy flew away. Annabeth left the shopping cart for what it was and started sprinting towards the aisle with bandages.   
Percy came rushing onto the grocery aisle, but saw conspicuously no Annabeth. He did she the shopping cart. He also saw the creature that was trying to climb into the cart. He dropped the sugar, and it broke on the floor. In his haste to look at what was in between his groceries, he stepped on the packet, and it burst open even further. Within seconds, there was sugar everywhere. Percy pulled out his sword, but couldn't find whatever had just crept into the cart. He thought he saw something moving around next to the eggs and the milk. He pinned his sword into that area, which did nothing except for causing the cartons filled with milk to break open and spill on the floor and the eggs to crack open. A few yellow yolks dripped onto the floor without breaking.  
Annabeth tore open a packet of bandages, not even caring that she would have to pay for it later on. She sloppily tied it around her bleeding hand. She ran back to the cart, but was stopped on the way by a woman. 'Where are you going, young lady?' The woman asked. She grinned, and rows of sharp teeth revealed themselves. Annabeth stabbed the woman with her knife, but couldn't get a lethal strike. The woman's disguise burned away, revealing that she was an empousa.   
Percy saw the thing slither out of his shopping cart. He didn't care for the huge mess on the floor, but started chasing whatever it was around. The mother came walking around the corner again. She saw the mess, she saw Percy, she was clearly going to say something, but then she saw Percy's sword. And she saw his sword - not a frying pan, or a bowling pin or whatever the Mist turns swords to these days. The woman picked her child out of the shopping cart. The toddler was sleeping happily, sucking his thumb. The woman held the child on one arm, and pulled a gun with godly bronze bullets out of her backpack.  
Annabeth started running, but the empousa came after her. Annabeth was faster, but realised quickly that she was running straight for a dead end. With no other place to go, she climbed on the shelves with cookies. An older man passed by, saw the girl on the shelf, saw a crazy lady running towards her with what looked like knitting needles to him, and ran for is life. He pulled out his mobile phone, and dialed 9-1-1 while running as fast as his old legs could carry him.  
The empousa had no interest in the old man. She wanted to get to the young demigod. With alarming speed, she started Climbing onto the shelves as well. Annabeth crouched away over the top of the shelves. She knew that if she could reach one of the other shelves, she would be able to stand straight up, meaning that she could run and figure out a way to kill the empousa.   
Percy didn't even ask the woman her name. Both of them ran for the slithery thing. When they ran around the corner to the stationary aisle, Percy got a good look at what it was: A telchine. He didn't always zone out during Chiron's lessons; He knew that if there was one telchine, there were more telchines. The woman didn't hesitate, but shot the telchine. With a low yelp it went to dust. The woman looked at her child, which gave out a low cry in his sleep. She kissed him on his forehead. 'There must be more monsters,' She said, 'I am Katherina, daughter of Nemesis.' 'Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon.' Katherina gave him a surprised look. 'It is not every day you get to fight alongside a living legend. Now let's get the other monsters in here,' she said.  
Annabeth put her feet to the closest shelve on the aisle with cleaning products, and took a jump. She landed just on the top of the shelve, but the few seconds she needed to find her balance were exactly the seconds the empousa needed to take a jump and reach for Annabeth's ankle. Annabeth screamed and sprinted over the high shelves. The empousa followed closely. Annabeth turned around on the tip of her toes (Those ballet lessons from when she was four until she was twelve were finally paying of. 'Thanks, Chiron, dad,' Annabeth thought) and stabbed the empousa in her chest. She screamed and turned into dust. Annabeth looked at the dust on the floor, and she suddenly saw something under the toilet paper.   
Percy and Katherina were looking around in the cereal aisle, when Percy saw something flop about behind the coco puffs. He started hacking into the boxes, but it didn't work. He looked at Katherina, wanting to ask her what to do next, but that was the moment Annabeth popped her head over the shelves and started to climb down. Katherina aimed at her, but Percy laid his hand on her arm. 'That isn't a monster. That is my girlfriend Annabeth, a daughter of Athena.'  
Katherina lowered her weapon. 'I found something. There is a basement under the toilet paper,' Annabeth told her boyfriend. 'Who is this?' 'Show us the basement, I'll tell you on the way.' They walked back to the aisle with toilet paper, soap, shampoo and cleaning products, while Katherina told Annabeth about herself. When they passed the grocery aisle, Annabeth looked at the sugar-egg-milk puddle on the floor, but she didn't say anything. At that point, Katherina's child woke up and started crying.   
Katherina tutted and pushed her weapon into Annabeth's hands. She held her child into both of her arms, trying to calm him down. 'Shhh. We are going home in a few minutes, sweetie.' The child kept bawling. Katherina sighed. 'I have a better weapon than the two of you and she is a child of Athena.' Katherina pushed her toddler into Percy's arms and took Annabeth by the hand. 'Let's go and look at that basement.' Annabeth shrugged and the two women walked over to the basement, leaving Percy with the toddler.  
Percy looked at the crying child for a few seconds. After that, his loving instincts kicked in. He sat down in the puddle of cake-ingredients and started rocking the child in his arms. 'Shh. I got a tasty rice cake!' Percy got a rice cake out of the packet that had rolled onto the floor, out of Katherina's cart, and held it for the toddler. He slowly stopped bawling as hard as possible, and took a bite out of the rice cake.   
Annabeth pulled open the cover of the basement under the toilet paper. She saw a ladder and, like every demigod would, she and Katherina climbed down. When Annabeth's foot hit the floor, she heard someone talk. She turned around, and saw two red curtains. The voices were coming from behind one of them. Katherina walked towards it, and slowly looked behind it. She immediately stepped back again. 'That is a lot of monsters. I think they live here.' She said it as quiet as possible, but apparently one group of weird monsters none of the demigods recognised heard them.  
A group of empousai pulled the curtain away. Katherina and Annabeth didn't know how fast they had to climb back onto the ladder, and run back into the store. When they ran past the toothpaste, they heard an explosion behind them. When Annabeth looked back, she saw a few ends of Greek Fire reaching through the hole.   
They ran back to Percy. 'Perce! We have to get out of the store! Greek Fire!' Annabeth screamed. Percy picked up the child and ran out of the store, together with the two woman.  
When they reached the outside of the store, Percy gave the toddler back to Katherina and they all looked around, at the walmart. A bunch of other people started to run out of the store. Percy saw a few monsters slither out of the store as well. It was then when the police and fire truck came riding around the corner. 'It might be time to leave,' Percy said, as he handed the packet of Rice Cakes to Katherina.


	69. We'll get him from the dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasons' death is difficult for the demigods. They decide to deal with it on their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBM spoilers, I guess? (everyone and their mom already knows what happens, so it isn't really necessary, but still. Also, this is not going to be dark and depressing). I felt like I had to adress this somehow.   
> Just after Jason died, in Camp Half-blood.

Annabeth wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at her boyfriend and at Piper. Piper had been sobbing since she arrived in camp, and Percy also had tears running down his face. Annabeth took a deep breath, and pulled both friends to their feet like they were kittens. They walked along, seemingly without feeling anything.  
Annabeth dragged her to friends to the Big House, and went inside. She knew her question was stupid; she just wanted to know for sure that what she was going to ask wouldn't be possible. Annabeth saw that Chiron quickly wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes before he turned to his demigods. 'Is something the matter, children?'  
Annabeth nodded. 'Chiron, how illegal is it to bring another demigod back from the land of the dead?' Chiron's looked at her, with a pitiful look in his eyes. 'It's impossible, Annabeth. No one ever did.' They heard a cough from the stairs. Chiron sighed. 'Or, I guess no mortal people did it.'  
Dionysus came walking down the stairs. 'It can't be impossible. You know not to make the same mistake as Orpheus. One of you can charmspeak, powerfully, so...' Annabeth looked at Chiron. To her surprise, he didn't even look hesitant. Piper took a deep breath, which allowed her to stop bawling long enough to say: 'We probably can't. A god did it once, we won't make it.' She started crying again.  
Dionysus swiftly went past his left eye before answering, hoping no one noticed: 'I did it three times, if it makes you happy...' percy breathed loudly. 'That makes our chances higher according to some logic, in some universe. See you later, Chiron!' Percy took his girlfriend and Piper by their hands, and pulled them outside.  
'Alright, Piper, Percy, you two grab the bags. I am going to call Hazel and Nico,' Annabeth told her friends, who were still wiping their tears away. 'Both of them? Isn't that a little... much, for a group that tries to sneak into the Underworld?' Piper asked. Annabeth shook her head. 'If we lose one along the way, we need the other one to tell Hades to pretty please not kill us.'  
Hazel and Nico arrived on Half-blood Hill just as Percy and Piper came running by with the backpacks. 'I brought enough food. We will have to eat before entering the Underworld.' The rest nodded, and silently departed to find an entrance to the Underworld. To the one in New York, which was the road Orpheus took, to be more precise.  
It took them about three hours to walk through the forest and reach the right spot in New York. They ate something before going inside, and after that Nico opened the door and they all walked inside. Piper shivered. She had never been in the underworld before, and it was creepier than she had ever imagined.  
Luckily, Hades palace wasn't far from the end of Orpheus' way, and Piper didn't have to see the horrors from the field of Punishment (later, she told the crew that that was her worst fear about the Underworld). Percy wanted to go straight for the palace, but Nico stopped him. 'We'd better fetch Jason first. So, if dad doesn't agree, we can always just run off.'  
Piper looked at them. 'Can't we just grab his hand and take him to the upper world right now?' She asked. Hazel shook her head. 'Pluto... I mean Hades, will notice if the son of Zeus is suddenly gone. And when that happens, we will have more problems than we are solving.' Piper nodded. 'Fair.'  
Nico led them to the fields of Elysium, straight to the house of Silena and Beckendorf. He knocked on the door. 'Have you two seen a handsome blonde boy, with blue eyes, the muscles of a bodybuilder and very light skin?' He asked as soon as the door opened. Silena and Beckendorf looked at each other. Silena titled her head. 'You'll have to be more specific. There is an ocean of handsome white, blonde men here,' she said. Beckendorf nodded. Nico bit his nails.  
'He is Zeus's son?' Annabeth slowly added. 'Oh. In the black house down the street.' The two smiled at Percy and Annabeth. 'Wish we had more time, bye!' Percy yelled, while they were already running down the street.  
Jason's mansion was big, but also very black. That was weird, for Jason had always loved colours. Piper walked to the back of the group. Percy blasted forwards, slamming on the door (it really couldn't be called knocking). Jason opened, and the entire group backed away.  
'You... you are so pale!' Annabeth managed to say. Jason's eyebrows raised so high Annabeth thought they would jump through the roof. 'What... what are you all doing in here?' 'Not important. We have to go visit my dad!' Nico yelled, while pulling Jason over the threshold.  
With as much speed as was humanly (or ghostly, in Jason's case) possible, they ran to Hades' palace. None of the skeleton guards tried to stop Nico and his friends from entering. They slowed their pace, and walked into the throne room with as much grace as is possible with the imperial march playing in the background (Nico almost cursed himself wondering why they couldn't have waited one week longer with that prank for Hades. Lee was the son of the god of oracles, he should have seen what was coming, he thought).  
Hades was hanging in the throne, watching something on the television across from him. When the children entered, he shot up straight. He groaned and held a hand for his face 'What have you children thought of now? If you have changed my cologne to a feminine scent again, I swear to god...' he took the hand from his face and saw that the group of kids was different from the usual one.  
Persephone came into the room and swiftly sat down beside her husband. Nico started to speak: 'lord Hades, father, we wish to take this man back up to the realm of the living.' Hades face turned stone cold. 'That isn't possible. It wasn't possible for your ghost friends that keep pranking me, and it will not be possible for him.'  
Nico looked like he tried to say something, but he didn't. Instead, Hazel looked at her father, who changed to his roman form after a moment of hesitation. 'Father, we can't miss him. He was part of a prophecy, we might need him again...' 'Hazel, if he died, than that was his fate. It means his job is done.' Hazel's lip started shivering. Hades expression got slightly softer. 'Daughter, I can't do anything.'  
Persephone shrugged. 'I did get a letter from mother saying Zeus has been throwing a fit on Olympus. I think it would cost everyone there, and you too, dear, a lot of headaches if you just let the boy go. Hades raised his eyebrow and turned to her. 'How much do you think he can do to us?' Persephone shrugged. 'He could send us so much mail the computer crashes and Hermes gets so tired he'll stay here all day long after collapsing in a fire on the fields of punishment. Remember last time, when he kept demanding that we bring someone back? That might happen again.'  
Hades looked at her. 'Hermes is annoying sometimes, but the person who kept demanding someone back was Dionysus right after Ariadne died by the hand of that Perseus, or something.' Persephone shrugged. 'Hermes can still be more than sometimes annoying, you know.'  
Hades sighed. 'Alright. Nico, Hazel, this one time I give you two the right to take him up with you. Yet, only because of every other time a son of Zeus caused trouble in here, be it because they were dead or because they wanted someone to stop being dead.' Nico bowed, and the others quickly followed him. After that, they marched out of the throne room, with Jason, while the imperial march sounded happier than Annabeth had ever thought it could.  
Just to be safe, no-one looked at Jason while they were climbing back to the land of the living. When they reached the upper world, Jason started cheering and lifted up Piper. 'Great! That place was unbelievably gloomy!' Piper laughed and kissed him, while the others either fell on the floor from hunger and exhaustion or ran to hug Jason as well.


	70. Ancient Demigods don't play around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weird Magic is flying around. When old demigods appear, they'll have to deal with it.

Jason had just been taking a nice nap, high in a tree, closely hugging Piper. It had been so peaceful. Yet, of course, the life of a demigod was never peaceful for long. Suddenly, the demigods had been woken up by someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Jason sighed, Piper groaned. They climbed out of their tree. It was then that they heard the screaming again: 'I don't know who you are! Get away!' Jason turned to Piper. 'I don't recognize that voice. Maybe it is a new demigod and their satyr?' Piper nodded. 'Let's go take a look.'  
Three people were standing in the middle of the forest when Piper and Jason arrived. There was a very muscle bound girl, a tall boy who looked like Jason and a small and thin person of whom Jason couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The girl was staring ominously at the boy, who looked angry. The third child looked at the two others, with concern in their eyes. Piper shrugged and walked up to them. 'Hello. Welcome in Camp Half-blood. Are you three knew?' She asked. The boy and the girl turned to her. 'This is camp Half-blood?' The girl asked. 'Doesn't look like it,' the boy added. The third person looked like he had no idea what camp Half-blood was.  
Jason walked out of the shadows as well. 'We can show you Chiron.' Everyone seemed to know that name, even the child who didn't know what Camp Half-blood was. 'Show us then,' Muscle-girl said. She looked like she would attack Piper and Jason if they'd do something wrong to her. Piper smiled and walked back to camp, swiftly followed by the others.  
'Can you tell us your names?' Jason asked. The boy who looked like him was the only one who answered immediately: 'My name is Perseus.' Jason and Piper turned their heads towards him and then to each other. The look in their eyes screamed: 'That is impossible. What is this magic?' The girl rolled her eyes. 'Atalanta.' Piper just looked like that explained a lot. All four of them turned to the last child. He shook his head. 'I am not telling you people. It might send someone after me.' Some of them shrugged, others just walked further.  
As soon as they walked out of the forest, Chiron came galloping towards them. 'Piper, Jason... Oh, Great, I see you two got the last three?' Jason looked concerned. 'The last three?' Chiron nodded. 'All my students from Ancient Greece have been teleported to the present day. I can't explain why, but probably Hecate has something to say about it. We'll try to fix it and send them all back.' Atalanta, Perseus and the other kid all got weird looks on their faces.  
'We will trust you, Chiron,' Perseus eventually said. The other two nodded. Piper shook her head. 'Does Mr. D know about this?' Chiron face turned into a frown. He turned to the other three demigods and to Jason. 'Jason, why don't you lead these three guests to the arena?' Jason nodded. Chiron pulled him in closely. 'Make sure no-one tells them what they are going to do in their further life. They shouldn't know.' Jason nodded understandingly, while Chiron walked back to Piper.  
'Piper, I already told the others, but it isn't a good idea to mention our usual camp leader.' 'Why not?' Chiron hesitated. 'Well, you know how Dionysus used to be a demigod?' Piper got another weird look on her face. This is going to be an extremely weird day, she thought. 'I understand. Yet, er... Where is he? On Olympus? It has to be weird to see your past self walk around in your workplace, I mean...' Chiron took a deep breath. 'I might have panicked slightly and locked him in his bedroom. I'll tell him when I have put everyone to their training.' Piper nodded, trying to process all the information of the last ten minutes.  
They arrived at the arena, where a group of about fifteen people had gathered. Piper ran over to her siblings and to Jason, while Chiron got a piece of paper out of the pocket of his jacket and address the group of old demigods. 'So. I am going to put you all in a line of how old you all actually are. And all of you, modern and old, I am going to have to ask you to not talk about any stories you've heard about heroes, or even gods. I am going to try to remove this from your memories when you go back to your own time. Yet, just to be save, please understand.' The whole camp nodded, making it look like a wave went through the crowd.  
'So. The first one starts on the right, and everyone who I call after that stands next to the person who's name I called before them. So, Dionysus, Asclepius, Perseus, Actaeon, Peleus, Telemon, Atalanta, Cyrene, Phoenix, Bellerophon, Theseus, Heracles, Jason, Oileus, Ajax, Achilles, Patroclus and Aeneas.' The demigods made a messy row. Chiron nodded, clearly content. 'Alright. Now, newer demigods, please make groups of your godly parents. Except, er... cabin 12, cabin 31 and 27, I suppose. Older demigods, please join your newer siblings and go through with your training while I try to figure out how to send you back.'  
The demigods, new and old, did, and after that training continued almost as usual. With the difference that Cabin 12, cabin 31 and cabin 27, the children of Dionysus, Hercules (Or Heracles) and Asclepius, were told to help Chiron with figuring something out, and there were a bunch of demigods who had previously seemed to only exist in stories.  
Jason wasn't bothered by his siblings. Herakles seemed to be more annoyed than anything else, Perseus was nice. They were also strong demigods, who could easily take on opponents. Dionysus was weaker than the others, which was weird for a son of Zeus, who were mostly expected to be strong. He seemed to try to find something else to fight with throughout the whole training session. Jason decided not to say anything; He knew about his usual camp leaders' mind controlling powers, and had also read The Bacchae. Dionysus would certainly find a way to fight, somewhere along the line.  
Complications appeared as soon as Jason decided to fight with thunder, while flying. He flew up into the sky, and made a huge thunderbolt crash on a training dummy. He landed, and looked at his brothers. He hadn't expected a few of the greatest demigods of all time to look at him with absolute disarray in their eyes. He smiled awkwardly at them. 'Yeah, um, son of Zeus, y'know?' He awkwardly said. 'How... Did you?...' Perseus eventually managed to say. Jason swallowed a lump on his throat. 'I don't know? Dad's powers?'  
Dionysus shook his head. It looked weird; The Dionysus Jason knew already had pretty long and curly hair, but the younger version had a really wild haircut. Chiron had tried to pull it into a ponytail, but as soon as the centaur had walked away the future wine-god had pulled the hair-tie out of his hair again. He started speaking: 'We can't do that. Or, well, maybe they can. I seem to be pretty weak anyway.' He said the last sentence in a slightly bitter voice. Perseus and Heracles shook their heads, too. 'I can't just summon thunder, or fly around,' Herakles added. He sounded offended, like he couldn't believe how this younger brother could do cooler things then he did.  
Jason breathed deeply. 'Well, maybe demigods get stronger the more children our parents have. I mean, Heracles seems to be stronger than Dionysus, at least...' Jason decided that that comment probably didn't help. He picked up his sword again. 'Let's just train with our hand weapons, shall we?' He asked, shrugging, trying to not look scared.  
Anaes was a bit of a bore, Piper noticed quickly. He could hold up a weapon, but he didn't talk about anything interesting. He seemed to not be interested in talking to the girls, only to the boys. Piper rolled her eyes. A sexist sibling, great. That was something else than a sexist nephew.  
Percy felt kind of weird, and it wasn't because of the sword wound on his right foot. Bellerophon was a nice dude, but kept dropping things on the floor - like a very sharp sword, straight on percy's foot. Percy knew Bellerophon's' name meant 'he who killed such and such,' which is why the epithet 'the blameless' had been added to his name. Percy smiled by the thought of being called after someone you accidently killed, only to get the epithet 'but he didn't do it on purpose.' He sighed. At least Bellerophon meant well. Theseus, however, was just kind of a huge brat.  
Theseus was the most ADHD person Percy had ever met, but that wasn't the thing that made him a brat. Percy knew from experience how annoying ADHD could be. The problem was that Theseus constantly getting distracted by everything meant that he didn't notice when he did something stupid. During the kanoë training, he had kanoëd over the kanoë of one of the Hermes kids, who had fallen into the lake. While the child had been brought to shore, the old son of Poseidon had jumped into the water himself, to check what the vines on the bottom of the lake were, oblivious to the crying child with a bleeding gap in his arm.  
When it had been their turn for sword training, Percy had ran into the same problem as Jason. The new son of Poseidon was able to cause earthquakes, make huge waves and breath under water, while Theseus and Bellerophon both didn't have all of these superpowers. It wasn't like the children of Zeus, where the older kids didn't have any powers, though. Bellerophon turned out to be a stellar equestrian. He could also talk to horses - quite fitting for the original owner of the pegasus. Theseus was able to create tiny waves and he could breathe under water, but seemed more interested in slapping people around with a sword.  
At some point, Theseus stabbed Bellerophon a little to hard - and the kid dropped to the floor. Percy decided that that was the point to maybe stop training. He put the swords away, and he and Theseus carried Bellerophon to the infirmary. They put the groaning demigod on a bed. Will came running to the bed. 'That... That is a very bad wound. Percy nodded at Theseus, who had been distracted by the shelfs with bandages. Will opened his mouth, but was stopped by a graceful figure softly pushing him out of the way. 'I am Asclepius. Let me heal the child.' Will nodded, and took a step back.  
Asclepius put his hand on Bellerophon's' chest. He said something in ancient Greek, and immediately the boy shot right up. His shirt still had bloody spots, but the wound had completely vanished. Percy gasped. 'Miracle,' He heard someone whisper in the infirmary. Yes, it really was a miracle.  
It was at that moment a horn sounded. Someone threw a new shirt to Bellerophon, and the rest ran over to the pavilion. When Percy walked inside, he saw that Chiron had taken the entire Dionysus, Hercules and Asclepius table away. It was kind of eyebrow raising. At some point, the demigods were going to notice the cabins, right? Percy sat down at the Poseidon table, which was right next to the Zeus table. Theseus and Bellerophon also sat down, while Perseus, Hercules and Dionysus joined Jason.  
Percy leaned back in his chair. 'Hey, Jay-Jay, how are you doing?' Jason sighed deeply. 'I don't know. We had to pick strawberries, do archery and we had sword training. Hercules was the only person who could actually shoot arrows. I had some sparring matches with him and Perseus. Dionysus was just the referee - he isn't much of a physical fighter. Perseus and Hercules kept squishing the strawberries, but that also wasn't much of a problem because said non-physical fighter just made more of them grow back. That is a little summary of my day. So, how was yours?'  
Percy let his shoulders hang. 'I didn't really like Theseus from the old stories, you know, with the leaving girls on islands and kidnapping the queen of the Underworld things. He is annoying to hang around with, even I have more knowledge of what goes on in my surroundings. He just doesn't seem to care. Bellerophon is a nice guy, but... how shall I put it?... Very clumsy, that is the right way. He is very clumsy. To clumsy for his own surroundings.'  
Jason nodded sympathetically. 'Let's hope Pipes had a better day. Leo didn't have to worry about this, I guess. Neither does Neeks, and Will seemed to be fine... I mean, Asclepius is a nice dude, from what I've heard... I just hope...' What Jason hoped? We'll never know, because Chiron stepped in to make the announcements in still-locked-in-his-bedroom Dionysus' place (Chiron had to do to much in the day. He didn't have time to go get his colleague out of his prison. It just surprised the centaur that he hadn't broke out yet).  
'Campers, there will be capture the flag tonight, like every other friday. I would appreciate it if all the new campers explained to the old campers what that is. Also, the kanoë races will be stopped, because of a certain... incident. Now, you can start eating!' Chiron tried to end his speech on a positive note, but it didn't really work. He sat down, and everyone started with their food.  
Percy looked at his brothers, who had already dug in. He just couldn't get a chunk of food through his mouth. The prospect of playing Capture The Flag with these old people was... unsettling, to say the least. He was afraid of how that would play out, if he had to be honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. That was that. I am going to write the 'Capture The Flag with our ancient bro's and sisters' part another time, because this gets a little to long. It is not going to be the next upload, but it is going to come out somewhere in the next two weeks.


	71. School Concerts? Never Again!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy is enrolled into a school concert.

Percy was nervously ticking on the floor with his foot. He now knew what Piper had felt that one time Annabeth and Hazel talked her into performing on a talent show. Also, you'd think someone who went through something like that wouldn't do it to someone else. Alas, Piper was one of the people who signed Percy up for the Christmas School Concert.  
It had been a few weeks ago when Percy had gotten a message from his choir teacher. At first, he hadn't understood all the blabbing about Christmas carols and singing in front of the entire school, but he had quickly gotten a suspicion that a few certain persons knew more about it. He had walked over to the nearest fountain, but did check of no-one was looking before he threw a drachma into the water.  
'Annabeth, Sadie, Rachel, Carter and Piper,' he had muttered. The faces of his friends had appeared in the smoke - they were all in the same place, outside the school. Percy breathed deeply. 'What is this talking from my choir teacher about the Christmas concert?' He had asked. His four friends had visibly had trouble containing their laughter. 'Good question, Percy,' Rachel had said, before hiding her mouth behind her hand and ducking down. Percy had known enough. 'Why, though.?' He had managed to ask.  
'Because you were such a good singer during the karaoke, you know, in the summer. We thought, the entire school needs to hear that,' Sadie had answered.  
'Sadie, you weren't even present during the karaoke!' Percy had called out. The girl had just shrugged. 'I heard it was good, though.'  
Percy had cut of the iris message. A small gasp had been behind him, but when he turned the around, the girl that was standing in the hallway had just whispered 'Fourth cohort, Vulcan.' before marching out of the hallway again.  
Now, it was the moment of truth. Percy was wearing a smoking, and he was supposed to sing in front of his entire school, plus their parents. He knew his mom, stepfather and Estelle would see him. Percy hid his head in his hands. He wasn't very confident in his ability to sing. His mom had Always asked him to sing something for her when Gabe had been away. He had Always done that, because he knew his mom liked it. Yet, that was just in front of his family, not in front of a bunch of teenagers.  
The choir teachers clapped in her hands, and the choir walked onto the stage, taking their places. Percy stood next to a girl from tenth grade, who kept giggling with her friend, and a boy on the other side, who had suddenly frozen up. He looked like a statue. Percy bowed his head closer to the boy. 'It is alright. They won't laugh, just, be relaxed,' Percy whispered. As he said it, he knew that it sounded weak, and not in the last place because he himself felt gitters in his stomach.  
The curtain went up, but the group stayed silent while the choir teacher took her place. Their math teacher was supposed to play the piano, and there were no other instruments. Percy took the few spare seconds, which felt like eons, to scan the crowd. He saw his parents and his sister, he saw Annabeth with his friends. After looking harder at them, he saw that somehow Rachel, Piper and Annabeth had not just gotten Sadie, Carter and the other Goode and BAG students into the concert, but all of his other camp friends to. Grover winked at him.  
Percy swallowed a lump in his throat as the first tones of 'Silent night' started. He took a deep breath, which he hoped no-one could hear (Because that would be embarrassing), and started singing. To his surprise, it went rather good. He was not the loudest singer, and some other voices seemed to slightly cover up his voice. The boy right next to him was still frozen like a statue.  
They sang a few other songs, and it was over. Percy stepped back into the backstage area and felt a wave of relief go over him. He had sung in front of the entire school and it hadn't gone very bad! Percy started to smile, changed into his normal clothes and went to the gym, to get a free cup of chocolate milk and tell Piper, Annabeth, Rachel and everyone else that it hadn't been that bad.  
Yet, he was stopped in the hallway by a teacher he didn't recognise. 'That was a good performance, Mr. Jackson.' Percy looked at him with squinted eyes. He had met so many suspicious figures in school that at this point he was just wondering what kind of monster was standing in front of him. 'If you say so.' The 'teacher' smiled. 'I recorded it. You know, the gods...' At that point, Percy realised who he was dealing with. 'Lord Hermes, just... please don't put it on Demigod-Hephaestus-tv. I don't even care if you show it to the gods.' Hermes turned back to his usual form, a thirty-something dude with brown hair, and pulled a colourful scarf out of his bag.  
He put the scarf around his neck. 'I do love these scarfs. The brand is named after me, you knew that, Percy?' Percy sighed.  
'Bye Hermes. There is free chocolate milk in the gym.' Percy walked away. His smile had turned into a frown - it is not like the god of Messengers ever listened to anybody, and he absolutely never listened to demigods asking him to not embarrass them in front of everyone.


	72. Norse Demigods Are Weird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is trouble in Hotel Valhalla, forcing the einhirjar to come to camp Half-blood.

'How can a magical hotel with nothing but dead people in it catch fire?' Someone in the camp Half-blood crowd yelled. Chiron just shook his head. He didn't have a single idea. Hotel Valhalla was property of the Norse gods, by all means that should make it impossible for the hotel to catch fire. But it had, and every resident of Hotel Valhalla had to be placed somewhere else while the hotel was being rebuild.  
A few of them had gone to Freya's realm for a little while, but vanirheim was the place for Freya's dead people and she didn't want the entirety of Odin's einherjar to run around there. So, because there was literally nothing else they could do (besides from sending all their residents to the Streets), the hotel manager had made a deal with Chiron and Reyna. A bunch of Hotel Valhalla children went to Camp Jupiter, and a smaller chunk camp to Half-blood. The city of New Rome just had more room than the already crowded camp.  
Alex was happy to go back to camp. She already knew Will, Nico and Lou Ellen there, because of the adventure with the resurrected dinosaur. The other children around her seemed to be worried. Alex had heard at least five people say 'What if they notice we are dead?' When they got close to the camp, Magnus leaned closer to her (The bracelet on Alex arm was pink, so Magnus knew she was feminine right now). 'Alex, I don't think they know we are dead.' Alex shrugged. 'Oh, Magnus, they do,' she said, so hard that everyone heard her.  
'How do you know?' Mallory had jumped from her chair and ran to Alex seat in a record time of 0,7 seconds. Alex smiled evilly. 'I went there before. I might have resurrected a dinosaur with one a few of their residents.' Magnus stared at her. 'You never told me that.' 'I thought it wasn't necessary. Magnus tilted his head slightly, while Mallory sat down in her seat again.  
They bus stopped at the border of the camp. The einherjar got out. One of them spotted Argus, who held a letter in his hand, signed by chiron. Argus gestured the dead people to come with him. Most of the people looked scared of the man with a hundred eyes. 'He looks like a monster. He is not some kind of giant, right?' Someone whispered. Alex grabbed Magnus hand and walked over to Argus. 'Hey Argus, me and my special friend are going to say greet everyone I already know, alright?' Argus nodded.  
Alex pulled Magnus along. 'Alex, I am sure you have lots of friends here, but maybe we have to listen to what that one-hundred eyed person has to say? Unless he is a giant, had taken over the camp and you are not telling me?' Alex looked at him. 'He is a Greek Giant, but a nice one. I know him, just listen to me.' Magnus groaned. 'If you say so.' 'Hey, Magnus, are you going to listen to me, or not?' Magnus rolled his eyes. 'Alright. I will.'  
Alex walked into the pavilion, dragging Magnus along by his hand. A few heads turned. They seemed to find the Non-binary person with Green hair a normal sight, while the dude she was dragging along was a weird thing to them. To Magnus, everything was weird. He was used to an entire hotel, with people everywhere and a lot of things to the dead, ranging from martial arts to Yoga, from Gardening to Kahoot. Here, there were a lot of people, but they seemed to not want to kill each other.  
After being dragged through camp for what felt like way to long, some girl came running at full speed to Alex. 'ALEX! Where is the dinosaur? We would make a plan to resurrect a new one!' She screamed. Alex smiled. 'I don't have a dinosaur this time, Lou. Also, that was Nico's plan, not mine.' Some kid behind them moaned. 'So, what if it is my idea?' What followed was an argument between the boy, the girl called Lou and Alex. Magnus slowly backed away. He didn't want to get involved in that. He looked at what he supposed was the entrance to the camp. What is taking so long? The rules on strawberry picking?' He thought (he had already spotted the fields in the distance). Also, where are Sam and Blitzen and Hearth? They promised they would show up!  
Magnus inner monologue ended abruptly when a boy tapped on his shoulder. 'Are you Alex' boyfriend? I am Nico's. They always bicker like this, don't worry, it is normal.' The boy smiled. It was a very sunny smile. Magnus smiled back. 'Jep. I am Magnus.' The boy gave him his hand. 'I am Will.' They shook their hands, which to Magnus seemed very professional for two teenagers. It was then that he felt the ground rumble.  
The campers looked around. It was clear they had never heard or seen anything like the rumbling before. From the corner of his eyes, Magnus saw Argus walk to the main field with the other residents of hotel Valhalla. Out of a really big house, a man in a wheelchair came bursting through the door with a velocity Magnus didn't usually equate with wheelchairs. After him, some dude with black hair came walking outside as well. Suddenly, one of the trees grew to a ridiculous proportion. The campers screamed, while the hotel Valhalla kids all relaxed. Someone was just trying to navigate the world tree, probably while being chased by the giant squirrel that lived in it.  
The part of the world tree that had been in Camp Half-blood without anyone knowing shrunk down to its normal size again. Chiron looked at the Norse demigods. One of them ran up to him to explain what just happened. The Greek Demigods realised that apparently everything was fine and went further with their usual activities. After five minutes, Samirah, Blitzen and Hearth came walking out of the forest, with twigs in their hair (and in Samirah's case stuck in her hijab).  
Magnus smiled like a full sun, while Chiron left Dionysus to explain how the camp works to the rest of the Norse demigods and galloped over to Magnus friends. Magnus wanted to join him, but suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. 'Hey Cousin, hope everything is alright, because I would hate to hear otherwise!' Someone said behind him. 'Good to see you too, Annabeth,' Magnus replied. He twirled around on his toes and looked at his cousin. Her boyfriend was standing next to her. He had his arm wrapped around Annabeth's waist.  
'You and Alex can sleep in my cabin,' he said. 'It is less cramped than the Athena cabin is going to be, you know.' Magnus shrugged. 'Alright, then, I'll sleep in your cabin. Yet, I think Alex sleeps in the same cabin as her... friends.' He had taken a break because he had seen a girl darteling through camp. She had been a ghost, but clearly not an einherjar. Magnus decided not to worry about it; the life of a demigod gets way weirder than just seeing a ghost.  
After dinner and singing at the campfire, it was time to go to sleep. It was then that most people realised they were going to have to split up over cabins (because Norse demigods also have an attention span of zero, and a lot hadn't heard it when Dionysus had very clearly told them all were they should sleep). Magnus threw his stuff on one of the beds in the Poseidon cabin. He hoped that the sea god would look the other way, and not vaporize him for sleeping in his cabin or because the Greek god had spoken with Ran and Aesir. Magnus didn't really have a good relationship with those gods.  
Blitzen and Hearth slept in the same cabin, Samirah had been given her own room in the Big House (as a valkyrie, she needed that). Alex was in the Hades cabin, together with Nico, Will and Lou Ellen - the later two had sneaked out of their own cabins to join the rest of team. 'Alright, but what if we round up all of the skeletons of dinosaurs in New York?' Nico asked. 'Neeks, maybe you should turn it down a little,' Will stated. Lou and Alex rolled their eyes. 'Sunnyboy, we need to take over this camp, not work on a funfair!' Alex said, acting annoyed. Yet, if he had to be honest, he just wanted to see more dinosaurs.


	73. Ancient Capture-The-Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old demigods are back, to play a nice game of capture-the-flag

Annabeth was playing with the flag in her hands. The Athena-cabin had won the last round of Capture The Flag, but they weren't up against the Ares-children. Instead, Chiron had got the idea to set his newer campers against his old students. It might seem like the campers had an advantage - the campers that stayed year-round were with 32, the old students were with 18. Plus, the newer campers had far more diversity in godly parents, making them able to do a lot more things.  
Yet, these demigods were famous for a reason - they had all done great things, although most of them later in life than their current age. The most of them were at least good fighters, in a lot of different ways. Annabeth sighed deeply by the thought of having to fight one of them one-on-one.   
Chiron marched onto the field where everyone was standing together, Newer demigods on the right with the blue flag, and old demigods on the left with the red flag. He let his gaze go over all the demigods before he explained the well-known rules: 'Hide the flag in your own area, no killing or maiming, come back when you hear the horn. If you're to wounded to stand up straight, come back and my helpers and I will get you back to good health. Now, Demigods, GO!' Before Chiron had even reached the word 'Go,' the two groups had sprinted into the forest.  
Clarisse ran next to Annabeth. 'Hey, Annie, I think we need to work together. Don't get me wrong, it's just for this one time.' Annabeth looked at her, trying to see if Clarisse meant it. After a few seconds, she decided that she did. 'Just this one time, then, Clara,' She agreed, 'We are going to need a strong team to beat these people. From what I've read, a few of them will trap all of us in one place while the rest of the group goes of to find a flag.' Clarisse shrugged. 'If the old stories are anything to go by, they could come up with it.' She got a strange smile on her face. 'Unless, Of course, we do it first.'  
On the opposite side of the forest, the older demigods had already hidden their flag. They were now looking at how they should arrange the group. Atalanta, one of only two girls in the group, had taken the lead. Surprisingly, the boys were actually listening to her. 'So, Hercules, Achilles, Theseus and Perseus are our best fighters, so they attack the other group. In the meantime, the rest of the physical fighters, with the exception of Cyrene and me, do the defending of the flag and they back the others up if it looks like fighting gets to hard on them. Cyrene, Asclepius, Actaeon, Dionysus and me try to set up a trap for the, er... newer demigods.' The group around her nodded, which she almost didn't see in the darkness.  
Annabeth and Clarisse were in the meantime also rounding up people to do the exact same thing. A few kids of Hephaestus got some strong rope out of their pockets. 'I always carry this with me, just in case,' Nyssa confessed, 'If I need it, it will turn into a net.' The Hephaestus kids, together with some other strong people, tied the rope in between the trees. It reached all the way from the Grounds of Maenads to the edge of the forest. 'At some point, someone is going to fall for this,' Clarisse said to Annabeth. The daughter of Athena nodded, more hopefully than completely sure of it.   
While the rope was being put in the trees, few demigods were paying attention to what was happening around them. Yet, Malcolm from the Athena cabin noticed something moving around in the trees. He decided to follow it. The person darted through the trees, all the way back to the other ancient demigods. Malcolm looked from behind a tree trunk, at saw Atalanta telling something to Cyrene. The figure he had followed jumped out of tree; It was Phoenix, a hero that didn't really have a lot of stories, but was some minor player in the Trojan war.   
'They have put a rope between the trees. I think it is something magical.' Atalanta nodded thoughtfully. Cyrene looked at the two heroes for a moment, before saying: 'And did you find that person we wanted to catch? Did you follow you?' Malcolm tried to get away so fast that he didn't even see Phoenix's confused expression. Before he put five steps back to his team, something had grabbed him around the waist and was hurling him to the rest of the opposite team.  
Malcolm looked up, and saw that the person pulling him away was Hercules. He sighed. 'I guess I already ruïned it,' he whispered to himself. He looked at Cyrene, who just gave him a bittersweet smile. Atalanta walked over to him and stared Malcolm straight in the eyes. 'What are you doing here, prisoner?' Magnus looked behind is back. 'Being a prisoner, I guess.' Atalanta shrugged. Asclepius came running by. 'I can watch the prisoners. If I stay here, I might be able to heal everyone who is wounded as well.' Atalanta nodded thoughtfully. 'Good plan.''  
On the opposite side, nobody had noticed that Malcolm had been captured. Clarisse and Annabeth had been to busy working out a decent strategy, and the campers were surveying the area for any spies. After a few minutes, they heard something unfolding, a bang and someone groaning. Nyssa jumped up, and ran towards in the sound. A few minutes later, she came back with Aeneas. 'This just ran into out little trap,' She told Annabeth and Clarisse. Annabeth gestured one of her siblings to come closer. 'If you could just guard the prisoners?' She asked, not really paying the attention. The girl still nodded.  
Perseus bit his lip. 'So they really have a net. You know, I think it might be smarter to get defensive than offensive, because we can never break through something made by a child of Hephaestus without losing the upper hand.' the rest of the group nodded. 'At some point, they'll have to send out people to come catch our flag. We can try to fight them then,' Achilles suggested. Atalanta shrugged. She looked like she was thinking. 'We try that. Does anybody have an idea for a trap on our side?' she asked. Dionysus stood up. 'I could try to manipulate the plants in such a way they'll grow in front of any attackers,' He suggested. 'It might work. Just take Achilles with you for backup.  
'They're not coming,' Clarisse whispered to Annabeth. The daughter of Athena sighed deeply. 'I agree. Let's send some people to the opposite camp; They are not going to be the ones to attack first. I guess they know what happened to Aeneas. Clarisse stood up, and rounded up a few Ares kids, and asked Jason to come along. Annabeth got a few Apollo, Athena and Hermes kids to join the little group. Ten people set out to search in the area of the enemy, not knowing what to expect.  
After fifteen minutes of seeking, they decided that it couldn't be a lot. There weren't any traps, no enemy camp, no flags as far as they could see. Jason had looked at the forest from the air for a long time, and couldn't see anything. Mark, a boy from the Ares cabin, said: 'Maybe we should go back. They are either very well hidden or extremely unorganised.' Keira from Athena nodded. 'Let's go.' Just as she said it, the plants seemed to move. Probably nothing, she thought, until she saw ivy slowly grow up her leg. 'Guys, I think we just stepped in a trap,' A hermes child said. Mark growled. 'They're plants, just cut them in half,' he said while pulling out his sword.  
Dionysus and Achilles had counted on the enemies trying to do that. Cutting plants in half might seem like nothing to the ordinary person, but if you knew dryads existed, it was a whole other story. The dryad who belonged to the ivy-plant had only agreed to let Dionysus temporarily manipulate her plant to trap the enemy as long as no-one cut it down. Mark not doing that was not something she liked. Therefore, she let her plants grow around his body so quick he couldn't hold his sword. The rest of the group got the same treatment. Jason tried to fly up, but it was no use. After they were stuck, Dionysus and Achilles strided out of their hiding spot to capture them. Achilles bound them all together with the little bit of rope the ancient demigods got, while Dionysus thanked the dryad in advance.  
When the searching group had not returned in thirty minutes, Clarisse decided it had been enough. 'Annabeth, let's just attack. We are with far more than them. They probably all jumped on our scout group. Annabeth agreed. This game of Capture-The-Flag had to progress someone, and sending out scout-groups only for them to get captured one by one didn't seem like a fast way to do that, nor was it a winning strategy. 'Let's go.' They rounded up all the campers, with the exception of the Apollo camper who had to make sure Aeneas didn't run away, plus a few people to make sure the flag didn't get captured. Nyssa and the other Hephaestus kids got the net from the trees, and the newer demigods stormed the area of their ancient siblings.   
When they saw the enormous group of demigods running towards them, Atalanta and her group squared up to dual. 'I don't care who, but somebody needs to go check the opposite side of the forest to find their flag!' Atalanta screamed. Achilles taped Dionysus shoulder. 'You can make the plants grow to make it look like no-one is walking. After we find the flag, you can go back, therefore making it look like no-one was gone, while I run back to the start with the Flag.' Dionysus nodded. 'Let's do that.'  
The group of demigods was running through the forest. Some of them accidently cut down plants. The dryads had all heard the story of the Ivy-plant, and started fighting against them. When a demigod cut something down, that person got pushed against a tree, without being able to move. Percy was trying to find the flag as soon as possible. Yet, he crossed paths with Bellerophon, and the demigod might be clumsy, he was very much capable of fighting Percy for quite some time. While Percy was caught up with that, Piper tried to charmspeak her way through the ancient demigods. It worked good, until she came face to face with Atalanta, a huntress who seemed to have the same brain as Reyna; unable to charmspeak your way into.   
Just when Atalanta held up her knife to smack Piper out for a few minutes, they heard someone play a song. Orpheus had started a solo. It made enemies everywhere on the left side of the forest fall down, cry and hug each other. The dryads let their victims go, but they didn't run away. Animals from the forest started crowding around the warriors of the game.   
In the meantime, the people on the left side of the forest were absolutely not bothered by the music, because they couldn't hear it. Achilles had pushed away one small group of defenders, but their wasn't a lot of opposition on his and Dionysus secret attack. Achilles still thought it was weird that a child of Zeus could have a strong affinity with nature, so strong that he was able to control plants to cover up the fact that they were walking here, but he didn't question it. If he had to be honest, he just thought it was because Dionysus had as much physical strength in his entire body as the Son of Thetis in his little toe. Of course he would try to find other ways to fight.  
Yet, it worked, and they found the flag. Achilles picked it up. 'I am going back to the left side. You run to Chiron,' Dionysus said. Achilles nodded, and the demigods went their separate ways. Achilles was a very quick runner, and he would have gotten the flag to Chiron in no time if it wasn't for the fact that he suddenly heard Orpheus singing. He wanted to resist, but he couldn't; he was drawn to the master singer. The same happened with Dionysus.  
Orpheus saw Achilles walk over to him, with the flag, seemingly hypnotised. Orpheus dug two tissues out of his pocket. He kept singing, while ordering Achilles to put them in his ears so he wouldn't hear him sing. Although a lot of sound gets through tissue paper, it worked, and Achilles seemed to get out of his trance. With the flag, he tried to ignore the singing and run back to the start. It didn't go as fast as he hoped; Orpheus' music was to good, he just needed to listen every now and then. Yet, he got back to the start, with the flag in his hands. Chiron looked at him, and smiled. Of course Achilles had been the one to capture the flag.  
He blew the horn. Orpheus stopped playing, as the horn blew a second time. The demigods woke up, realised the game was over and that the ancient demigods had won, and started walking back to the start. The newer demigods congratulated the old ones with their victory.  
Piper walked up to Chiron. 'I think some people are stuck in there. Who is going to get them out. Chiron looked around, and saw Dionysus standing in the group with the other Ancient campers. 'I think I am going to get Mr. D out of his room and explain what is happening. He'll get them out, as usual.' “Chiron, how come that he didn't just break out?” “Well, Piper, I thought Lord Zeus was joking about the magical locks which he truly can't open, because not even Zeus himself can open them without the key, but I guess he wasn't. It did work in this panic situation, though.” Chiron smiled. 'Also, I finally found a way to send these kids back. So tomorrow, everything will really be all as usual.'


	74. Kahoot To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some truly weird activities to the death in Hotel Valhalla.

Magnus looked at Mallory, who was sitting on the bench in front of him. She was one place above him, and Magnus didn't like that. There were people who stated that Kahoot was a game. They were wrong. Kahoot was war. Magnus had already seen it in the years at middle school, before he started living on the streets. Kids would go crazy as soon as they realised somebody had kicked them down from their spot. Yet, this was still different. In this game, the thread of death wasn't just a joke. It was a reality.  
Magnus selected the yellow block. The music changed, while the message: 'classroom superpowers?' Appeared on his tablet. He felt Alex' eyes in his back while he selected it. He looked around. Alex had his hand on his garotte. Magnus stared at his screen, praying to whatever god might be able to hear him. 'Please let it be right,' he thought. His screen lit up green; he was right. He cheered, before immediately ducking under his table. In the meantime, people started to attack everyone who had been wrong.  
Magnus popped his head above the table again when the room became slightly more silent. The people who had been wrong had been thrown out of the room, and the game leader was presenting the next question: 'What flower was growing next to the trashcan in the third elevator in the year 1678 A.C. on the third day of may?' Magnus sighed deeply and thought deeply. He hadn't been dead yet at the time the flower had grown, helheim, he hadn't even been born!   
Yet, he was the son of Frey. Magnus always took the third elevator, and he had once felt the presence of sunflower and Forget-me-nots pollen in there. Sadly, both of those things could be chosen. Magnus closed his eyes and pushed the button for Sunflowers. He stared at Mallory, who shot him a venomous look while she selected Forget-Me-Nots. The last person selected their answer, and Magnus screen went Green at the same moment Mallory's screen got red.   
Magnus pulled Jack (in rune-form) from his belt. Te rune turned into a sword again, and Magnus jumped over his desk to attack Mallory. She slided under her desk, while Magnus landed upon it. She got up and tried to run to the other side of the room with her twin knives in her hands, but Magnus got up quicker and took a swing. Just before the sword hit Mallory's head, Jack flew up into the air. 'Magnus, you just woke me up and didn't even ask! I couldn't even sing a nice wake-up song! You can't possibly expect me to fight!' Mallory grinned evilly. 'Time to go back to your room, Flower Boy,' She said. Yet, before she could finish him off, Halfborn stabbed her from behind. Magnus sprinted back to the other side of the room, while Mallory was send back to her room on the nineteenth floor.  
The next question was even harder to answer: 'What is Odin's left ravens' third favorite type of chocolate?' Magnus knew the birds' second favorite type of chocolate was Pure, but he didn't know the third one. He held his finger in front of the tablet, wondering whether it was Milk with almonds or Caramel-Sea Salt-bacon-cherries. Most humans would pick Milk with Almonds, but these weren't humans. Eventually, he picked Caramel-Sea Salt-Bacon-Cherries. Next to him, he saw that TJ selected Oranges-Cheese-Almonds.   
Magnus was right again, and ducked under the table. He was not about to ask Jack to do something for him again. From under his table, he saw that Alex had had gotten out his Garotte, and she quickly ended TJ. Yet, Halfborn came barging in from the back, and stabbed Alex in his back. Alex tried to strangle Halfborn before he died and had to get reborn again. He succeeded, and it was then that Magnus was the last hope of his floor.  
It was nerve-wracking. He answered two answers correctly, but the tension inside his body was only getting higher and higher. Floor 315, 245 and 68, with a lot of other floors Magnus didn't know about. Only floor 19, 67, 90 and 234 were still there, but there were people outside the door trying to get back into the race. Yet, Hotel Valhalla rules said that only people who were part of a team still in the race could come back into the room. Magnus hoped one of them would come walking back into the room again.   
For some reason, people on the same floor would still keep trying to get each other. Kahoot To The Death was in Hotel Valhalla not only a way to show that your floor was the most honourable, but also that you were the most honourable of your floor. It is confusing for people who are not residents.   
The next question was: 'What is the name of the sixth goat from the sixth day on the sixth month in the year 8 that was grazing in the third field of the fifth farm from the middle of Rome and the modern Amsterdam?' Magnus closed his eyes and just picked one. He peeked between his eyes, and saw the judging screen standing on his desk. It was pure red.   
Magnus jumped up. 'JACK, PLEASE!' He screamed. Jack stopped singing Katy Perry, and flew back to Magnus. A girl from the 90th floor attacked Magnus, but couldn't get through Jack. Magnus sprinted through the room, trying to fight of people. Suddenly, he got stabbed in his right side by someone he didn't know. Just as he felt he was dying, he saw Mallory walk into the room. 'Mallory! Just in time! Defend our honour! He screamed, just before really dying. He had brought dishonour on himself and on his floor, and know all the hope was laid on someone else.


	75. Why pets are not Allowed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pets cause quite a nuicance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one chicken that dies in this story, eaten by a panther head. So if you have a weak stomach, watch out.

'So, pets are now allowed in Camp Half-blood, for some reason. Don't come to me when they start to ruïn your pillows and your cabin starts to smell bad.' Dionysus sat down again after the last announcement, while the campers started cheering. The Demeter cabin was especially excited; they had told Chiron about the idea of every cabin being allowed to have one pet, and now it was real. The pet didn't even have to be your parents' holy animal, it could be whatever your cabin wanted!  
Yet, complications immediately jumped up. The Apollo cabin was one of the fullest cabins in camp, with eighteen children in the summer. Apollo was the god of a lot of different things, and a lot of his kids had only gotten one of those abilities, and every single one of them wanted the pet to be an animal that would fit (or even help them with) their own special talent. Will wanted a little snake, because of the logo of doctors. 'We can't do that! The Asclepius or Hermes' kids probably already got that,' one of his siblings complained. 'We should have a cat or a parrot, so we can do something musical with them and get millions of views on YouTube!'  
Kayla wildly shook her head. 'Than we don't have anything that shows our dad is the god of archery. Will frowned. 'What do you want us to have that has to do with archery? A dead deer?' Kayla smacked him. 'Don't be so mean.' Within seconds, Nico stood next to the table. 'Kayla, I don't appreciate you smacking my personal ray of Sunshine.' He pulled Will from his chair. 'Come, Will, we are going to go to my table and then we can talk about what animal we want.'  
Percy knew exactly what he wanted: a few seahorses. He could keep them in his fountain, which he could still use for Iris-messages if there were seahorses in them. He could get two, so they could build a family. He jumped up from his chair, so excited that he didn't even notice the leftover macaroni on his plate. He ran towards the sea, desperate to ask his dad for a few seahorses.  
The entire Hecate cabin came with the same idea: 'guys, lets have owls, they fit magic.' Well, the entire Hecate cabin minus one. Terry, a son of Hecate, said 'toad' instead of 'owl.' His siblings turned to him, just staring. 'Why a toad? Owls are so much better!' lou asked eventually. Terry turned to her. 'Because Owls are Athena's holy animal. The Athena cabin will think that we try to suck up to them.' One girl shook her head. 'No. And even if they think that, owls are still better than toads. What reputation will that give our cabin?'  
The Demeter kids chose to have chickens. They built a pen outside of the cabin, and everything was fine for a short time. It was around the same time that the Iris cabin got a really funky coloured Gecko, which looked like Iris herself had send it to them (Or, to the pet store Butch happened to be passing by). They called the gecko Skittle, even though both Nico and the Dionysus and Hypnos cabin thought it was dumb (The cabins considered each other neighbours. The Iris, Hades and Hypnos cabin were actually neighbours, and the Dionysus cabin became close to the Iris-kids after a certain incident).  
Will and Nico had chosen a skeleton-dog. Will was scared of it at first, but warmed up to it after some time. It was a cute, cuddly animal, even though it was dead. The Hypnos-children got a pet sloth called Mickey. It mostly just hung on a branch in the cabin. On the other side of the branch would be food, which it would eat when it wanted. The Dionysus cabin got a black cat, which they called Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa. It was a ridiculous name, but Sheila and Pollux had decided that the names fitted perfectly and they could not be persuaded into changing it.  
It was then that the chickens started to cause trouble. One of them picked through the pen, and ran off. Her sisters quickly followed. The Demeter cabin had Ancient Greek at the time, so they didn't notice. Their neighbours, which was just the Athena cabin, were also busy at the time, and therefore couldn't stop it. In no-time, the chickens had either gotten into somebodies cabin and were now eating the chocolate bars, or got eaten by Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa.  
There was one chicken who got into the Big House, and in a very crazy way, which no-one could tell anybody about because no-one saw it, Seymour the panther head ate him. When Chiron walked into the Big House, he was greeted by the sight of feathers on the floor, blood on the walls and floors, and Seymour with some scraps hanging around his mouth. It was then that Chiron declared that birds were illegal as Cabin-pets.   
The Ares-cabin had first said that having a pet would be stupid, but then they decided that they could get a tiger. They called the tiger Slaughterbeck, but soon after that they learned that tigers aren't very good pets. It first started to hunt on other pets, but it didn't take long before it started to hunt on campers.   
The Aphrodite girls had just been sitting by the lake when the tiger had sneaked up on them. A few of them jumped into the water, but that didn't work. The tiger fixated on one of the girls, who stood frozen by the side of the lake. Luckily, that was the moment Dionysus and Chiron came running up to the scene. Dionysus controlled the tiger, which slowly walked back from the girl. The daughter of Aphrodite burst into tears. Chiron comforted her, and later at dinner announced that felines were also illegal now - at least, if they have all their limbs. Seymour was still legal.  
The Dionysus cabin didn't like that, because it meant that they had to send Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa away. It turned out to not be much of a problem, because Chiron gave them permission to bring it to Pollux' mother's house. It took them about three days, because of a small problem with a monster on the train to South Dakota.  
It tipping point that made pets illegal was when Chiron realised that the Hecate cabin had had an owl and a toad the whole time. In less than a month, pets had gotten legal and illegal again. Most pets were brought away. Except for Mickey and Skittle. Mickey was hidden in the stables, and Skittle was secretly kept in the Iris-cabin. Yet, it changed address every now and then. Sometimes the gecko would be in the Hypnos cabin, sometimes in the Hades cabin, and every now and then in the Dionysus cabin.


	76. Sunny Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will have a special movie night. They do not realise that they cause a problem to the other cabins.

It was Will and Nico's movie night. Every week, they would cuddle up in Nico's cabin and watch a movie. The first time they did it, Will had picked a film (Friday the Thirteenth). The week after that, Nico had pulled him into the Hades cabin and they had watched the Titanic. After that, Will had picked a film; a bad production of Dracula. Nico had chosen the next one (Mamma Mia) and that went on for a while.  
Right now, it was Nico's turn to pick a film. Will was the only person who knew about Nico's secret love for cheesy romance films. He sneaked out of the Apollo cabin when everyone was asleep, which didn't take long. Apollo's children weren't nightowls. He grabbed a pink blanket from under his pillow, and swiftly ran over the wet grass, to the opposite side of the rows of cabins. His hands softly touched the fence of the veranda of the Dionysus cabin, before running further to the door of the Hades cabin. He opened the door of his boyfriends cabin while staring at the crazy glow-in-the-dark Rainbow colours of the Iris cabin. The Hypnos cabin lay beside that, still in it's everlasting silence.   
He walked stepped into the dark cabin. Nico was sitting on a black couch, hugging a pillow. A tub of popcorn laid on the little table. Will shook the blanket, and a thermos fell out of it. Nico stood up and got two cups out of a little cupboard. Will filed them with Chocolate milk, and draped the blanket around Nico's shoulders after that. Nico put on the television. The screen lit up, and the words 'Love, Simon appeared. Will breathed deeply. 'Alright then. I thought you would have chosen West Side Story, we didn't see that one yet.' Nico shrugged. 'I don't like it when they constantly sing.' 'Literally the second movie you chose was Mamma Mia, and we watched The Sound Of Music after that.' 'Don't ask stupid questions.'  
Will left it with that. The movie began. Half way into the film, Nico paused it. 'I need to go to the bathroom.' He stepped out of the cabin. Will sighed, but got a little radio out of a secret pocket in the blanket (He had asked an Aphrodite child to make it for him). He put it on, and a song started blaring. He didn't really realise how hard it was on, and when Nico came back they turned up the volume even louder. The Danse Macabre came on, and they started waltzing around.   
They didn't notice the loud music, but the neighbours did. The music was so loud, that it went straight through the walls of the Dionysus and the Iris cabin. On one side, Butch shot up. His siblings looked around. 'Who is listening to the Danse Macabre this loud, at this hour?' his sister screamed. 'How should I know, Laura?' Butch screamed back.   
Sheila was earlier awake than her brother. 'Hey, Pollux, that sounds like the Danse Macabre.' Her brother got up, and jumped from the top bunk. Sheila got out of her bed (Which wasn't a bunk bed. There used to be three people in the cabin, and neither Pollux or Sheila wanted to sleep in Castors' bed). 'You're right.' They stepped out of their cabin, onto the veranda.  
On the other side of the Hades cabin, the Iris kids got out of their cabin as well. They looked around. The Hypnos cabin was still silent, and there was also no activity seen in the Aphrodite cabin as well. So, both cabins concluded that the music came from inside the Hades cabin. Lilly, The Iris-girl, walked to the door and knocked on it. Nobody opened. Lilly knocked harder.   
No-one inside could hear her, because of how loud the Danse Macabre was turned on. Nico and Will were slow dancing through the cabin. Nico laid his head on Wills chest. Will put his chin on Nico's head. 'Never thought the Danse Macabre could be romantic,' Will muttered. 'You know now.' Will giggled. 'We haven't finished the movie.' 'We can do that after the song is over.' Will laughed, and kissed Nico on his forehead.   
Meanwhile, outside, the seven other demigods were getting extremely annoyed. Lilly kicked against a rock. 'This way, we aren't going to get any sleep tonight. One of those kids is an Apollo kid. This is not going to stop for quite some time.' Sheila nodded. 'We need to do something. Tomorrow you all have an archery exam.' Butch gave her a strange look. “Sheila, you're blind, why do you think about archery?” Pollux rolled his eyes. 'Not important. The rest of us do and we need to stop this.'   
Lilly banged on the door. 'Can any of you pick locks?' Everyone shook their heads. 'Nobody can do it?' Sheila asked. 'Nobody,' Pollux answered, realising his sister couldn't see everyone shaking their heads. 'Are any windows still open?' Sheila asked. Lilly and the others tried them all, but they were all closed. Inside the cabin, somebody turned up the volume even louder. Butch screeched, and kicked away the doormat. They heard a clunk, and a key slid into the grass.  
Pollux picked it up. A smile grew on his face. 'You know, we could just get inside and give it back. Yet, they ruined our sleep, you know...' Butch grinned. 'They did. You know, we still have some Rainbow streamers. They would look just lovely in Will and Nico's hair...' Lily smiled, and looked at the Dionysus kids. 'Do you still have a thing inside your cabin that could be used?' Sheila smirked. '"A thing?" We have an entire kingdom of useful items in our cabin.'  
They walked back to their cabins. After five minutes, they met on the doorstep again, arms filled with stuff. In the meantime, Will and Nico had put on the Bohemian Rhapsody. 'When you Have Gone And Thrown Away Our Time To Sleep,' another Iris-kid said. The rest snickered. Butch had the key. 'Let's get inside, shall we?' he said, while putting the key in the lock, and dramatically swinging open the door.   
Nico and Will didn't notice the door opening. They were swinging around on the Bohemian Rhapsody. 'I see a silhouette of a man!' Will sung. At that moment, the silhouette of Butch appeared in the doorframe. He had a bunch of streamers in his hands. Will and Nico stopped dancing. 'Group! Attack!' Lilly announced.   
The Iris-kids bound Will and Nico together with Coloured streamers, and magically made Rainbow-coloured balloons drift to the ceiling. Sheila and Pollux covered the place in grapevines, while hanging Party lights everywhere. They used a lot of other things to 'decorate' the place, but at some point the streamers and grapevines had covered almost everything. Will and Nico couldn't move; the grapevines and streamers had closed around their bodies, pulling them together.   
When it seemed like the Intruders were done with decorating, Will scraped his throat. 'So. why did you do this?' It was then that he realised he had to scream at the top of his lungs. He flushed slightly red, and tried to put out the radio. Yet, he couldn't. His arms were as short as those of a T-rex. Pollux put it out for him. 'So. Maybe the noise could be slightly toned down next time. Nico tried to not, but it wasn't possible. It was then that Lilly saw the television. 'Hey, were you two watching Love, Simon?'   
Another failed nod. 'Yehhs,' Nico muttered. The grapevines loosened. Butch got the streamers of. 'Let's watch it, then,' Pollux said. 'Archery, guys?' someone from the Iris cabin said. 'Whatever,' Lilly answered. They all sat down on the couch, except for Sheila. She walked out of the cabin, but came back with a braille book. 'I am not going to be alone in that cabin while you all are having fun. I'll just... read.' Pollux pulled her onto the couch, and hugged her. 'You do that.' Nico put the movie back on, and together they watched to the end of the movie.


	77. Bringing Away Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pollux and Sheila decide to bring their cat away. Yet, nothing ever goes easy for a demigod...

Pollux helped his sister with stepping into the bus. He had one of his arms on her arms, and carried a basket with their cat in it in the other. He paid the driver, and they sat down around the middle of the bus, close to an exit. Sheila put her cane on the floor. 'You do understand that, since we can't use Google Maps because it will attract monsters, I am dependent on you?' Pollux nodded. Oh, I know. Yet, do you usually use Google Maps?' Sheila nodded.  
'When both of your parents are immortal, monsters tend to leave you alone, even if you use electric devices.'  
The entirety of the first seven minutes of the trip were calm and safe. After that, a few monsters decided to get on the bus and ruïn the peace and quiet for the siblings. Pollux bit on his lip, while getting a small knife out of his bag and into his pocket. He couldn't see what the monsters were, but he did feel the signature monster aura coming off of them. Sheila acted like she tried to get comfortable, but in the process she whispered 'Those are Blemmy's' in her brothers ear. He pinched her arm, to let her know he understood that.  
The blemmy's didn't immediately attack. Maybe it was because of Sheila, or they were to nice do it, or they didn't want mortals to see them, or they were afraid of Panther Caesar Velvet T'challa hissing at them like the brave cat that he was. Pollux didn't mind; as long as they didn't act to suspicious, he and Sheila had time to figure out what to do, preferably without seeming suspicious themselves.  
'The next stop is New York central station, or otherwise known as a place where you can't set two steps without being attacked by three monsters at once. So I don't think we should get out there,' Pollux said to Sheila. It didn't sound very suspicious, more just like two demigods making plans just outside of the listening ear of other passengers and the bus driver. Whispering would only make the monsters think that they got recognised. 'I say we get of the bus somewhere in the middle of New York. If it is very busy, the monsters won't attack out of fear of scaring mortals and being picked up by the police. I am pretty sure they can hear or see that New York is packed with those two types of humans.' Pollux nodded. 'You're right.'  
They got out close to Times Square, which was packed with citizens, and mostly: tourists. The siblings got of the bus and sprinted into the crowd as fast as possible, but out of the corner of his eye Pollux saw the blemmy's leaving the bus and going after them. Luckily, they weren't very fast. Sheila had been walking apart from him, with her cane, but as soon as the blemmy's caught more speed Pollux grabbed her arm and pulled her along, through the crowd of people.   
Running in the most crowded place in New York was far from easy, but it was possible. The siblings sprinted past the sky-high shops. At some point, Sheila had taken the lead. She didn't constantly get distracted by flickering billboards everywhere, which was impossible for someone who could see. She felt where most of the other civilians where walking, and Pollux pinched her arm when she was about to step onto a weird tile or any other hinderance.   
After about ten minutes, when they reached an underground station, the blemmy's were gone. Apparently, they hadn't been fast enough to keep up with the children of Dionysus sprinting over Times Square. 'There's an Underground station here. We can take it to a place outside of New York, and maybe there is a way to get to South dakota after that.' 'If you say so,' His sister said.  
Yet, as said so many times before, the life of a demigod is never peaceful for long. As soon as they had stepped into the metro, Panther started meowing and that immediately alarmed a gorgon that had apparently just been sitting in the metro. She noticed the two demigods. A snake slithered out of the scarf she had tied around her head. She walked towards the demigods, trying to be sneaky. 'Say. Where are you two beautiful young children going today?' She asked. 'Away from here!' Sheila answered, before her brother pulled her out of the metro, over the gab and back onto the platform.  
Before the metro doors closed, Pollux swiftly pushed his sister into another cart. 'We don't have a choice. This place is filled with monsters, gods or not,' he told his sister. 'I know,' was all she said. 'I got a metro map while you were buying tickets, by the way. Now you can figure out where we have to go next.' Pollux sighed. 'Why didn't we just buy a plane ticket?'   
They got out of the metro, in some strange place where Pollux thought would be a bus that might lead them to South Dakota. He was walking next to Sheila, who was walking on her own, with her cane. Pollux was clutching the basket with Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa. 'This is almost not worth it. You'll see, as soon as we reach my mother's house she will not want this cat,' He said as they stepped on yet another bus. Sheila looked into the void for a while. 'Maybe. But I suggest we at least buy a plane ticket for tomorrow. Zeus doesn't have a particular hate against us, I think.'  
After two more busses, four cans of orange juice, what felt like a billion weird stares, ten chocolate chip cookies, to many to count meows from Panther Caesar Velvet T'Challa, six telchines, one cheerleader squad of girls of which half turned out to be empousai and one stray dog which started to bark uncontrollably as soon as he say the cat, they arrived at the house of Pollux' mom. Sheila sighed deeply, while her brother rang the doorbell. 'I think my sisters are home,' her brother said.  
She turned to him. 'I feel betrayed.' Pollux laughed, and hugged her. 'They don't go to Summer camp with me.' 'Yeah, that is important,' Sheila said sarcastically, but she did hug him back.


	78. Dodgeball To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dodgeball is not played casual in hotel Valhalla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is pretty violent. Noremen, you know.

Magnus wondered when Hotel Valhalla would stop making school activities into dangerous activities to the death. It either said something about how dangerous those activities were even in school, or it said something about the hotel making something innocent dangerous (Magnus personally thought it was the first thing).  
Luckily, they didn't have to wear the manky clothes people in actual physical education classes had to wear. That was one good thing of this. Yet, in actual physical education, the dodgeballs weren't supposed to be deadly.   
Magnus walked to the gym with the rest of his floor. They were all annoyed, accept for TJ; He was the one who had signed them all up for Dodgeball to the Death. He had been so excited that no-one had had the heart to say no, yet they did have the heart to whine about it endlessly. 'Dodgeball really is terrible,' Mallory muttered. TJ didn't even listen anymore. 'I mean, like, really, really, really terrible!' Mallory said a little bit louder. TJ shot her a dirty look. 'Like, really, Really, REALLY...' Halfborn slapped her against the back of the head. Mallory furiously turned around. The other three quickly ran forward, not wanting to get stuck in between the to lovers... 'Arguing.'  
They walked into the gym and Magnus immediately got a ball in his face and disappeared. Alex and TJ immediately ran away as hard as possible. Alex dodged at least three balls while running about five metres, which was something that had never happened in the three years she had been in school. Also, at most gym classes there hadn't been matts, ropes and whatever else is in most gymnastik classes.   
Alex ducked behind a mat, which was leaning against a wall. She peeked at the room from behind the mat, and looked around. There were at least twenty balls flying around. Alex snickered. This was going to be amazing. She changed into a fly, and flew to the ceiling. She walked over the ceiling, until she hung above some though looking girl, with a scar on her neck. She laughed in herself as a ball came flying her way. She changed back into a human and caught the ball out of the air. Alex let out a warcry as she threw the ball straight into the girls' face. The strange girl screamed as she was disappearing. Alex laughed maniacally, while changing into a fly again.  
Mallory and Halfborn had reached the room, only to immediately attack each other as soon as one of them caught a dodgeball. Mallory threw hers at Halfborn at a normal speed, but her boyfriend threw another ball back with so much strength that it pulverised a climbing frame. Mallory pulled a ball out of some poor other Einherjars' hands, and threw it at Halfborn. The ball caught so much speed that two other people got hit by it, and it still flew further. After that, Mallory decided that now would be a good time to run away from where she was standing as quick as possible.  
TJ had wanted to play dodgeball because he didn't know what it was. He knew that most things in Hotel Valhalla were made deadlier than they were in Midgard, but this was ridiculous. He thought it would be fun, but now he was thinking about getting hit by a dodgeball so he could get out. It turned out that wasn't necessary, because some dude threw a ball at him, while jumping down from a rope he had climbed in.   
Alex had send about seven people back to their room before somebody noticed what she was doing. Mallory realised that every time someone got hit in the back by a dodgeball by seemingly nobody, the sound of a fly could be heard. She put two and two together, and realised that the stricker was Alex. So, she started looking around for a fly, or other small insect.   
After ten minutes of dodging flying things (People had decided that just throwing balls was boring, and they had started throwing their shoes, whatever was in their pockets, illegally snuck in weapons, other people and everything else you can throw), she saw a fly on a mat. Mallory didn't now if it was Alex, but decided to take a gamble anyway. She got her foot out of her pink shoe, held it in the air like a hot-pink weapon, ready to strike, and just when her arm was going down again, she felt something hit her hard in the back. She fell against the mat, of which a small fly quickly flew away. Mallory could have sworn it laughed at her, but maybe that was just because she was dying.  
Halfborn laughed. He had gotten her. He decided to throw yet another ball at someone to celebrate his victory, but that celebration had to be cancelled, because Alex got out of her form as a fly and hit him in the head with a flying football (Nobody had an idea where it came from, yet there was also no-one who really cared about it). Alex laughed like crazy while she tried to turn back into a fly. All of her floormates were down, it was just her! She had won the great dodgeball match! That shows those weird canaries!  
Just after she thought that, Alex wished she hadn't, because instead of turning into a small, flying bug, she turned into a neon-yellow canary. Canary-Alex zoomed to the ceiling as fast as possible, hoping that no-one had noticed her. Yet, the norns are just not that nice sometimes, and had clearly decided that some agender person was going to hit Alex on her canary-head that day. The eighteen-something looking person threw a dodgeball exactly at Alex' Very visible yellow tummy. But, of course, this was hotel Valhalla dodgeball, and there it hit Canary-Alex so hard that she got thrown against the wall. She squawked, but no-one could hear her. Canary-Alex fell to the floor, a dishonourable… 'Death,' as she saw that the ruthless game of dodgeball continued. She decided that, next time, they would all go to Kahoot or Yoga to the death; it was a lot more fun that Dodgeball.


	79. Pipers' Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise parties, also for Piper.

Piper was staring out of the window. Her books laid on her desk and the teacher was waffeling in front of the white bored (You can't stop me) - a casual school day. Piper wasn't paying attention, though; today was her birthday, and she was sure her boyfriend and friends had something planned out. She just badly wanted to know what they had planned, because each year her birthday parties seemed to become more and more ridiculous.  
Last year, some dude had showed up at her workplace and bought every chocolate cupcake in the store. After work, she walked into her father's house like usual. She had wanted to go straight up to her bedroom, but her father had asked her to come sit in the garden with him. He had looked like he wanted it very badly, so badly that Piper had given in. As soon as she walked into the garden, all her friends jumped from the bushes and started cheering. All of the chocolate cupcakes had been stacked onto a garden table.   
'miss Mclean! miss Mclean?' Piper stopped daydreaming when the teachers voice finally reached her brain. She laughed innocently. 'Eh, what?' She said, charmspeaking slightly. The teachers' eyes went blank. 'Yes, what again, students?' He asked. No-one said anything, and luckily, at that moment the bell rang. The students got up and walked away, without paying much more attention to the teacher.   
Piper got out of the room. Lunchbreak, she thought. She walked to the canteen, but got stopped by the front door by two people dragging her away. 'Whom?' She screamed. A familiar voice answered: 'Your kidnappers.' Piper sighed. 'Hey, Annabeth. What do you and everyone else have planned?' She tried to turn her head to see her friend. The voice of Hazel answered: 'Something.' Piper rolled her eyes. 'You guys have applied the mist, I hope?' 'Of course,' was the answer she got.  
The next moment, she got pushed into a limousine. 'This looks pretty extravagant.' hazel nodded. She tried to stay as serious as Annabeth, but she was clearly to excited. Annabeth stared at Piper. 'Miss Mclean, do you realise what is happening to you?' Piper rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'Alright then. I'll explain, miss Mclean. Today is your seventeenth birthday, and that means that you got a year older.' Piper snickered. 'Sorry, but that was slightly too hilarious Annabeth.' Hazel giggled, but Annabeth kept her serious expression.   
'This is serious business, Mclean.' Annabeth rolled her eyes, clearly having a hard time containing her laughter. 'We have to defeat the...' She was stopped because the limousine suddenly stopped. Annabeth got up. She was clearly surprised. That alarmed Piper; that meant this wasn't planned. That there was something Annabeth hadn't chosen to do. That never happened; something was wrong.   
Hazel also noticed it. She looked scared. Annabeth grabbed her knife and got out of the limo. Piper grabbed her backpack and through everything that was inside on the ground. She pushed everything aside, trying to find Katropis. Hazel got out of the car in the meantime, already preparing to use magic. Piper stuck her hand deep down her backpack, but she couldn't find her dagger. She started to panic when she heard a scream from outside of the limo. Someone knocked loudly on the windows.   
When all of her books were spread over the floor and Piper had pulled all of her pencils, erasers, pens, tampons and everything else she had out her bag, she grabbed the biggest math book she could find and bolted outside. Outside, she saw a few monsters trying to fight Annabeth and Hazel.   
Or at least, at first glance they seemed like real monsters. Yet, Piper quickly recognised that they weren't hurting Hazel or Annabeth (Neither were the girls hurting them). Also, Piper started noticing the seams. She stood still, Math Book in hand. 'Very funny, guys. Please stop. I see that these 'Monsters' have the silhouettes of Frank, Percy and Jason. What do you want to do? Just bring me there.' Everyone stopped 'Fighting' to look at her.  
Percy sighed deeply and pulled the mask of. 'Alright guys, let's stop the mission.' Piper looked at Annabeth and Hazel. 'A+ acting, girls. Now let's take this limo over to the party.' Jason, still in his suit, opened the door for her. Piper got inside, and started putting her books back in her bag while the car started. When she was done, she looked up. It was then that she realised that there was no-one in the car with her. She looked outside, and saw her group of friends standing there. They waved at her, with evil smiles. Piper turned around and sat down on the couch. Wait, if they are all there, who is driving this thing? she thought.  
The trip took forty-three minutes, or, as Piper saw it, 8 milky ways and three glasses of Cherry coca-Cola. After those forty-three minutes, the chauffeur opened the door. Piper stepped outside, with her backpack. At this point, her face was expressionless. She sighed. I just wanted a nice piece of cake and a present. Why do I have friends who plan idiotic things on my birthday? She thought. The chauffeur hooked his arm through hers. She looked at the chauffeur, and almost screamed. 'Are you Nico's French zombie-chauffeur?' She screamed. The zombie nodded, which looked gross. She didn't stop linking arms with him, though.   
They walked to a weird building. They were somewhere in the forest, Piper noticed. The building looked really nice, though. It probably wasn't an insane asylum, at the very least. The chauffeur brought her to a changing room. He opened the door for her, bowed, and straight up left after that (With 'Left' I of course mean that he fell through a crack, back into the Underworld). Piper looked around in the changing room, with a poker-face. There was a nice, strapless, blue-and-white dress hanging on a cloth hanger. A pair of flats were standing under it. Piper couldn't care less about anything anymore for the time being, so she put the things on. She looked like Cinderella with them.  
She walked out of the changing room, and decided that the entrance was the best place to go to now. In her gorgeous dress, she shuffled up the stairs (Yes, it was a really chique building, she thought). She walked to the door, and knocked after contemplating whether to do that or to just bulge inside. The door flung open, and she stepped inside.  
The first two things she saw were Nico and Frank, who had opened the door. She made a little bow at them - she had no idea where that came from. Probably the atmosphere. She looked around. She was standing in a hallway, but heard muffled sounds coming from behind another huge door. She did start to feel very curious about what was going on now. Frank and Nico quickly ran to the other door, which they flung open. With quick steps, Piper walked into the room. There was yet another flight of stairs, which led to a huge ballroom.   
As soon as she stepped inside, a spotlight was set on her. As by magic (Obviously by magic), Pipers hair was put into some crazy haircut. She rolled her eyes, and slowly walked downstairs. She realised people were gasping, and staring at her. Yet, it didn't bother her, like it usually did. This attention wasn't put on her because her dad was a famous movie-star. This attention was there especially for her. She felt like she was glowing.  
When she reached the end of the stairs, Jason came running up to them. He linked his arm through hers, the way the zombie-chauffeur had done, and led her to the dance floor. A spot was put on them, as they started waltzing around.   
the party was awesome. For once, Piper really enjoyed all the glitter and glamour, everyone wanting to dance with her, the attention, the fake champagne (Of which Leo managed to get drunk. Calypso eventually led him to the car, to get down from the sugar rush). She would forever remember this night, while her Inner-Aphrodite was showing (and she loved it)  
(Epilogue: The very next day, Piper ran through a forest, with nice, dirty jeans, attacking monsters. There was still some gold glitter on her cheeks, though).


	80. Truth, Dare Or A Nice Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gods play Truth or dare again, but with a little jingle in there.

Christmas on Olympus basically meant that everyone got tipsy. Yet, this year, they all got slightly more than tipsy, and that meant they started playing truth or dare again. Yet, with a little more Christmas this time.   
Aphrodite wasn't able to sit still on her throne. This was just to exciting! She giggled nervously. That might not have been the best thing to do, because Hermes heard it, violently turned around with a crazy smile on his face and pointed at Aphrodite. 'Aphrodite! Truth or dare?' Aphrodite flushed bright red. 'Well, eh, truth? I am a little too jittery for a dare, I guess...' She giggled again. Hermes turned on a very innocent expression. 'How many times have you charmed someone into buying you some fashionable object?' The entire Olympus turned their heads towards her. Even a few of the male nymphs stared at the love goddess.  
Aphrodite got even redder. 'Well, eh... This one time... and that one mortal... Well, I guess I did it a few... Hundred times, maybe…' She looked at her lap, but shot her head up. 'Alright! Poseidon, truth or dare?' She giggled again. On Christmas, her inner-girl was really showing. Usually, she was slightly more grounded.  
Poseidon swallowed nervously, and smiled at her. It wasn't really a nice smile. 'Er, dare, Aphrodite.' Aphrodite smiled charmingly. Poseidon felt that he was blushing to. 'I dare you to sing 'Last Christmas on the main square. Poseidon almost screamed, but he got down from his throne. A lot of minor gods and nymphs held their breath as Poseidon walked out of the throne room and onto the grand square. He took a deep breath and started singing.  
It was at that moment that Chiron, Dionysus and their group of demigod kids got out of the elevator and walked over the bridge to Olympus. Chiron gave the children the usual speech, and they walked over to the main square just as Poseidon started with the first chorus, Dionysus and Chiron, together with a few of the kids (A lot of them had already ran off) entered the square.  
Poseidon wasn't the best singer (And that is nicely phrased). As soon as the residents of Camp Half-blood saw him, they all thought the same two things: One, this is terrible, and two, why am I having flashbacks to that one time Ares walked around in camp with a mini-skirt on? Chiron just turned his head away, hoping that this craziness would stop soon enough. Dionysus was hiding his head in his hands, almost thinking that camp was a better place to be that this mountain. He said something to Chiron that the centaur didn't understand, and walked away to the throne room.   
When Poseidon was done, he ran back to the throne room, leaving the entirety of Olympus in total silence. It took at least three minutes for people to start talking again; that is how bad of a singer the god of the ocean was.   
Poseidon sat down on his throne again. His face was even more red than Aphrodite's, but he managed to say: 'So, Zeus, truth or dare?' Zeus almost spat out his wine. 'I am the king of the mountain! I am excused from this nonsense! He screeched. Right next to him, Hera shook her head. 'You're in the throne room, therefore you aren't excused.' Zeus took a shaky breath. 'Truth,' he whispered. He realised he made a mistake as soon as Poseidon's face got an extremely not-in-his-favor expression.   
'So, Zeus, who was your favorite mortal?' Zeus got redder than a tomato mixed with beets and red paint. Without saying anything, he ran out of the throne room. Hera snickered and leaned over Zeus's throne to high-five Poseidon. 'That was stupid, and absolutely wonderful, brother.' She said. She took another sip of Ambrosia, just as the throne room opened. Chiron and Dionysus walked inside.  
'What is there to whine about this time?' Poseidon asked, while rolling his eyes. Dionysus opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by Athena (Who had, after three glasses of wine, decided that she was going to participate in Truth or Dare again): 'Wait! You two are in the throne room! You have to participate!' She clapped in her hands, while everyone nodded enthusiastically. Both Dionysus and Chiron immediately tried to run out of the throne room.   
Ares jumped of off his throne, clearly determined to grab one of them and ask that person the dreaded question. He caught Dionysus by the shoulder, wrapped his arm around his stomach and held him in that position. Dionysus seemed to be to surprised to fight back (not that it would be a good idea to fight back against a tipsy Ares anyway).   
'So, Dio, truth or dare?' Ares let out a maniacal laugh. Dionysus sighed deeply, now convinced that camp was a Thousand times better than this crazy mountain. 'Truth,' He muttered. Before Ares could say anything, Hermes jumped up and yelled: 'What is the stupidest thing any of Ares' kids has ever done?' Ares let go of Dionysus, ready to punch Hermes.   
In the meantime, Dionysus got up and shuffled to the door. 'Well, Hermes, this one time a guy called Sherlock, or Sherman or whatever, thrashed the entire cabin and blamed two of his sisters. The two girls dragged him to the lake, threw him in, and then forced him to rebuild the entire cabin. It went on for the entire night, and after that I just send a bunch of Hephaestus' children to help him build it up again. While they were working on that, the Ares kids decided to plaster the Hephaestus' cabin with pictures of Ares in his mini-skirt. You know, instead of thanking them.'   
Ares violently turned around, and speed walked over to Dionysus, who ran out of the throne room. He slammed the door behind him. Ares pulled it open again, almost (Oops, I meant 'violently') pulling the huge door of its hinges. The other Olympians didn't know what happened next, but they decided that they had had enough truth or dare for the night.   
(Oh, by the way, Ares ran into a mirror while chasing Dionysus. Dionysus eventually reached Chiron, who had just dealt with a child that had annoyed Nemesis. He was way to tired to deal with his nephew right now).


	81. Painting Lessons With Malcolm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malcolm decides to give some painting lessons in camp Half-blood, but it does not go as planned...

'Looks good, Butch! You're use of colours on the unicorn is absolutely gorgeous!' Malcolm remarked, while walking past. Butch grinned widely. 'Thanks!' He said, and he went further with his painting of a unicorn dancing on a Rainbow, with cotton candy clouds in the background (What did you expect? He is a son of Iris).   
Malcolm had decided that he had to keep the reputation of the Athena cabin high. People had started to forget that Athena was also the goddess of the arts, and Malcolm had made it his personal mission to put that right. So, he started to give people painting lessons. He noticed that the Apollo and Iris kids were the best painters, behind the people of his own cabin (I mean, duh). The Dionysus kids (Or Pollux. Sheila didn't really do a lot of painting, obviously) made very… psychedelic paintings. Malcolm decided that Pollux probably just watched to much Yellow Submarine, or something. He truly couldn't tell what was being done on the canvas.   
Because of an incident we don't speak of, Chiron had decided that a few Ares kids should have a go at trying to paint. Sherman yang and Mark were cursing the centaur the entire time they had a paintbrush in their hands. When Malcolm walked past and looked at their paintings, he almost put a step back. 'Ehm, Sherman, I don't think Chiron wants you to paint something that looks like somebody just... spilled blood on a canvas...' Sherman shrugged. 'Than Chiron should have specified that when he told me to paint.'   
Marks' painting was not much better, not just because of the extremely unsettling picture and because it was just absolutely terrible. Malcolm quickly walked further to Clarisse's painting, expecting to see something similar there.   
The painting had the same theme. It was fighting animals in the forest. Malcolm was pretty sure he saw the trees fighting too. Yet, he could séé that that was going on in the picture. Very good, even. Malcolm turned to Clarisse. 'Where did you learn to paint like that?' He asked. 'It is really good.' Clarisse shrugged. 'Silena thought it would be fun to learn how to paint together. you know, when she was still alive...' Clarisse went silent. 'Do you really think it is good?'  
Malcolm nodded. 'Yes. Unlike the paintings of your brothers. Just, I thought Chiron wanted you three to paint more peaceful pictures...' Clarisse shot him a look like he had gone crazy. 'Peaceful? I am a daughter of Ares! Does he want me to paint like... Butch?' She pointed to Butch's Rainbow-unicorn-candy cotton mess. Butch turned around. 'My unicorn is better than your horror forest any day, Clara!'   
'Nobody calls me Clara!' Clarisse yelled, before charging to Butch's painting. She threw the canvas on the floor, breaking it in half. Instead of panicking, Butch grabbed his palette and paintbrush. While Clarisse was busy destroying the unicorn, Butch smeared Rainbow paint all over her horror forest. He painting smiles on the fighting squirrels, and huge Manga-eyes on the trees.  
When both paintings were thoroughly destroyed, Malcolm unfroze, and decided to step in. 'Hey, um, let's just keep… or, start painting, I guess.' Clarisse and Butch looked at each other like they still wanted to push each other into a lake, or some more violent activities. Yet, to everyone's surprise, they both got another version of their painting seemingly out of nowhere and calmly continued painting.   
Malcolm blinked with his eyes and took a deep breath. Let's just act like that didn't happen, he thought to himself. He walked further to the spot were Will and Nico were painting. It was very clear who forced who to go and do this. Will was happily making a painting of a few puppies, while Nico was angrily looking at his canvas. It was almost entirely painted dark blue. Malcolm looked at the paintings. 'Nice, Will. But this ear is too big.' Will smiled at him. 'Thanks! He started working on the left ear on one of the puppies. Malcolm looked at Nico's canvas. 'What's that?' he asked.  
Nico turned his head towards him. 'It is a blue canvas.' Malcolm was a little confused by that. 'yeah, I see that, but what are you going to make of it?' Nico shot him a dark look. 'It's just a blue canvas.' Malcolm looked at Will, who rolled his eyes. 'Neeks, it isn't so bad. It's three entire hours out of your life.'   
'That's three hours I can't spend on becoming the best Mario karter in the world!' Nico said, while grabbing a tube of dark paint. 'But fine, I'll paint something that isn't just a blue canvas!' Nico smeared black paint all over the canvas, and reached for Will's orange paint. Malcolm quickly walked away, mumbling something about needing to check on Pollux.  
His painting had gotten even crazier. Malcolm looked at it. 'Er, what is it supposed to be?' he asked. Pollux turned to him. 'I just painted what came into my head. I try put something everywhere.' Malcolm nodded, half-understanding it. 'It is... crazy...' Pollux nodded enthusiastically. 'I know, right?' Malcolm decided that that was a good moment to leave.  
He stared at Rachel's painting for some time. It was depressingly good. He walked closer. Say, Rachel, did you dream about this or did you just imagine it? He said as he looked at the pegasi flying up to mount Olympus, and everything else that was happening. Rachel smiled. I imagined it. Nice, don't you think. Malcolm nodded. You should give this class, he thought. You would be calmer than I am.   
He took another round past everyone he had already visited, and decided that that was the point where he had to check in on Nico and Will again. Will's painting still looked the same. The son of Apollo was staring at his boyfriends' canvas. Malcolm realised why. 'Ehm, Nico, that looks kind of wild.' Nico shot him an angry look. 'My painting is less wild than Pollux' painting. Quit whining.' Malcolm disagreed with that. Nico's painting looked absolutely idiotic. He couldn't even describe what was going on.   
So, instead of trying to do that, he just patted Nico on the shoulder, shot Will a look that said a hundred things (Mostly: Maybe don't do this with your boyfriend anymore). He decided that maybe it had been enough for today, but that was the moment Mark and Sherman started throwing their canvases and pallets at each other. Malcolm sighed deeply. He guessed that art-class had actually just begun.


	82. Ding-Dong Ditching To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, Alex and Magnus iniate their own dangerous activity.

Okay, this is just a stupid thing to do, Magnus thought. Playing dodgeball, or Kahoot, is still some kind of fun. But going ding-dong ditching through a hotel with bloodthirsty warriors? That is just a stupid thing to do. Alex was walking next to him, with a sinister smile on his face. 'Magnus, don't you think this is great?'  
Magnus gave her a weird look. 'Sure, great.' Alex rolled his eyes, while they stepped into an elevator. 'Let's go to the... erm...' Alex looked at the hundreds of buttons. He shrugged, closed his eyes, and pressed a random button. Magnus let out a yelp. 'Alex, that is floor number five hundred sixteen! You now, the people who we beat into the dirt during the pie-eating contest to the death yesterday!' An even wider grin grew on Alex face. 'Good.'  
They got out of the elevator. Magnus kept hanging around there longer than was necessary, but Alex immediately tiptoed to the last door in the hallway. Magnus almost screamed. 'Alex! That is Rock Stonewalls room!' In response, Alex raised his finger and rang the doorbell in slow-motion. The moment Magnus decided to ran over to Alex and pull him back into the elevator, Rock opened the door. He stared at Alex and Magnus. 'What do you twerps want?' he asked.  
Alex shrugged, and ran away so fast Magnus thought it was impossible. He took off after her, but Rock put his huge biceps in front of his face. 'You're not getting away, little dude.' Magnus tried to pull Jack from his necklace, but Rock forced his arm against Magnus neck, so that he couldn't reach the necklace. 'Prepare to die, brat,' Rock whispered in his ear.   
Luckily, that was the moment the pressure of Rock's biceps got to much for Jack, and he transformed himself into a sword. 'Magnus, what do you think you're doing? Fitness probably isn't good for your way to skinny body...' Jack stopped talking when he saw Rock. Rock stared at the flying sword with a weird expression.   
Jack would have rolled his eyes if he had them. 'Not a bright one, is he, Magnus?' He said. Rock opened his mouth to say something back, but Jack was quicker and cut of his arm. Rock screamed, and let go of Magnus (Obviously). Magnus grabbed Jack's hilt and sprinted to the elevator, where Alex was waiting. Alex had an relaxed expression on his face. Magnus slammed a random button, and smashed the button that closed the elevator door. Just before it really closed, Magnus saw a girl he thought was called Sandra Muscletown come out of her room, with a furious expression.   
Magnus turned to Alex. 'Sandra saw us.' Alex looked at him. 'Let her. We are going to another floor, and she doesn't now which.' Magnus didn't calm down, though.   
'Say, Magnus, do you now which button you pressed?' Alex asked after fifteen minutes. Magnus shook his head. 'No.' He stared at the numberdisplay. 'We are on floor 2003, by the way.' Alex opened her mouth, but than the elevator dinged and the doors went open. Alex and Magnus stepped out of the elevator. 'Where are we?'   
'Floor 2005,' Magnus answered, 'Who even live there?' Alex looked around. 'I don't know either, but it smells like a retirement home. And prune juice.' Magnus nodded. Alex shrugged. 'Well, only one way to find out.' She pressed the closest doorbell, and jumped behind a chair that was standing in the hallway. Magnus sat down next to her.   
After five minutes of waiting, Alex laid her head on his shoulder. Magnus put his arm around her waist. 'Maybe this person is just... playing baseball, or something?' He mumbled. Yet, at that moment the door opened. A really old woman with a wooden leg opened the door. She looked around the room for a while. 'Where are you, scum?' She screeched. She waved her arm around. Neither Alex or Magnus dared to say anything.  
An old man stepped out of his room as well. 'Maxine, why are screaming again? There is nobody here!' Maxime looked at him with fire in her eyes. 'Shut your trap, Pete! Someone rang my doorbell!' The man's face got purple, and that was the moment Alex and Magnus decided to run away. Maxine yelled something at them, but Alex and Magnus didn't pay attention. Alex pushed the button for floor seven hundred seventy eight.  
The trip down was twelve minutes. 'Say, Alex, what if we stop after this? Because otherwise Yoga To The Death will get incredibly heated next time around.' Alex nodded unwillingly. 'Yeah, maybe it is a smart idea. It is five PM, and someone is going to hit us. Reappearing in our rooms is going to take at least six hours and I don't feel like skipping dinner today.' The elevator let out a soft 'ding,' and the doors glided open.   
Magnus ran up to a door and rang the bell. The door flew open and hit him in the face, causing him to fall on the floor. Magnus blinked. 'Why?' He looked at the face of the person who threw open the door. The person stared at him. 'Were you ding-dong ditching?' Magnus shook his head. The Person shook his head (Their name is Madison, ran through Magnus head). 'You're lying. My advice is to stop now. I tried ding-dong ditching in this hotel once. The things I saw... The things that happened...' Madison got a funny look in their eyes. 'Stop it.'  
Magnus nodded, and as soon as Madison had closed the door he sprinted back to the lift. 'Let's go back to floor seventeen,' he whispered to Alex. She nodded. 'Sure.'   
The lift stopped on the right floor, Alex and Magnus stepped out, and they saw a crime scene. Rock Stonewall was manically laughing and walking around with his sword. Maxine was standing in the middle of the hallway. She looked like she had just lost Bingo to the death, or like two children had just rang her doorbell only to run away.   
Alex growled and attacked Rock. 'Why do you reappear so fast!?' She screamed, while pushing her garotte against Rock's throat. She didn't give Rock the time to answer. Maxine quickly shuffled back into the lift. Magnus let her go. He didn't really care. The lift closed again, and Alex started running around with wooden planks. 'Help me, Magnus! We need to barricade this!' Magnus looked at her. 'What about dinner?' Alex shook her head, annoyed. 'Not important.' Magnus sighed and helped her with the planks. 'Alright then.'


	83. Chirons' 'Dad' Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiron might say he is just a mentor, but we all know he is a true dad.

Whenever he was asked about it, Chiron would say that he was a mentor to his demigods, not an extra parent. Even he knew that that was a lie. A bunch of demigods see him as someone they could come to with their problems about literally everything. And that was something you did with your parents, not with any regular mentor. Of course, people knew Annabeth was basically his daughter, but she was far from the only one.   
Max, an son of Ares, had been feeling incredibly down the whole day. Yet, he had grown up with parents that would constantly tell him that he couldn't cry or show emotions, that he had to be though. Being an Ares kid also didn't really help. Children of Ares were expected to be strong, all day long. They couldn't just show that they were down.  
Yet, this is camp Half-blood, so obviously people notice. During the sword training, Max hadn't show half as much fury when trying to beat his enemies as usual. When Chiron had passed by, he had immediately seen it. After the training, Chiron grabbed the boy by his shoulder and pulled him into the big house. Under loud complaining from Max, he had pushed him up the stairs, sat Max down in a comfy chair, and gave him a cup of tea. 'So, Max what is going on?'  
Chiron smiled at Max, who looked so angry that it was a miracle that he hadn't thrown his teacup at the wall yet. 'Nothing, old horse.' Chiron took a sip of tea. 'Are you sure?' Max slammed his fists on the table. 'Yes.' Chiron shrugged. 'If you say so, Max.'   
It stayed silent for a little while, until Max sighed deeply and folded his arms. 'The mail got delivered today. I had send an application to three universities, to study Computer Science. I got rejected at every single one of them. Not only that, but I saw Kaitlin Rose, from the Athena cabin, walk around with a letter from my number one, and she got a place in the program.' He angrily kicked against the leg of the table. 'She only got in because of her six thousand extracurricular activities. I already coded a few best-seller apps, for goodness sake! Why did she get in? I never even saw Kaitlin close to a computer!' Max had started screaming, while a tear made his way down his cheek.   
He wiped it away. 'But it's nothing. She probably deserved it more than I did.' He grinded his teeth against each other will he said it. Chiron's smile faded. 'I didn't know you wanted to go to college that badly. Is there a reason for that, Max?'   
Max nodded, but didn't say anything. He took a small sip of tea. 'I do want to go to college. I want to go work at the computer department of the military.' Max got a faint smile on his face, and a dreamy look in his eyes for a few seconds. Than his face got stone-hard again. 'But that ain't going to happen.' Chiron didn't correct his grammar, this time at least.   
'Do you know of any more universities which have a program that you want to get into?' Chiron asked. Max stared at him with a stare that would have killed Chiron if looks could do that and if Chiron wasn't immortal. 'That's not the same and you know it, centaur!' Chiron tapped his hand. 'Sorry, Max.' Max didn't answer, but grabbed Chirons' hand. 'It's okay,' he whispered. Chiron smiled. 'Do you want to go back to your cabin, Max?' Max nodded.  
'Yes.' Chiron got up, but Max was still in his chair. Eventually, he stood up, walked over to Chiron and hugged him. 'Thanks.' He didn't say anything else, but walked down the stairs and out of the Big House.   
Chiron didn't hear anything else from Max until two weeks later. The boy came running into the Big House with an envelope. 'Chiron!' He yelled. His fingers were shaking. Chiron turned to Max. 'Yes?' 'I... I got another letter back. From, er... Yale.' Chirons eyes got big. 'You send a letter to Yale?' Max nodded. 'I decided to try. I have nothing to lose anyway.' Max shrugged. He held his breath, and tore open the envelope.   
He got out the letter, but didn't fold it open. His hands were shaking violently. He held it to his chest, and sat down. After that, he jumped up again, and jumped around the room for a while. Chiron hid a laugh, and asked: 'Max, would you like a cup of tea?' Max shook his head. 'Nas.' Chiron stayed at his place. Max took a deep, shaky breath, opened the letter, and started reading.   
His face got worrisome the longer he read, but halfway through the letter he put it down on the table and started to cheer and jump around the room. He calmed down again, grabbed his letter and turned to Chiron. 'Well, centaur, I got accepted. Now, I have to leave - I got sword training with the Athena cabin.' He smiled evilly and got out of the big house. Chiron shook his head, with a smile on his face. He decided that he should warn Kaitlin, because she was going to have a hard time in the arena.  
The next day, Lacy came into the Big House. 'Chiron, I need advice,' She said.' Chiron nodded. 'Let me just get a cup of tea.' He got two cups of Earl Grey tea, put them down and looked at Lacy. 'So?' Lacy took a small sip of Earl Grey, put it down again, and did a hair flip. After that, she started.  
'Well, there was this boy in my last Geography class at school, and I thought he was like, super cute. Yet, then I saw this girl in front of me, in English class, and she was also so pretty. In the break, I first talked with her, and she was so nice! Actually, I gave her part of my donut, and the way she looked at it was the cutest thing ever. Than I talked to the guy, and I thought he was kind of bland, but later I realised that he had slipped, like, the cutest note into my Mathematics book!' Lacy looked into the great nothing for a while. 'And now I don't know who I liked better. I prayed to my mother, but she just said that I should date both at once. I don't want to do that, you know?'   
She looked at Chiron, who was still processing everything she had said. 'So, you don't know who you want to be… your significant other?' lacy shook her head, smiling. Her elastik bands were blue this time. 'No, Chiron, I don't expect that much from you. I just wanted to tell someone who wouldn't immediately tell me what I should do.' She blushed. Chiron rolled his eyes. 'Well, you did ask for advice. So, just… spend some time with them some more, and see how that goes.' Chiron grinned a her.   
Lacy nodded. 'I will!' She drank the last bit of her tea, jumped up, hugged Chiron and skipped out of the house. Chiron looked at the door, and shook his head. 'I have trained teenagers for years, but I still don't understand them,' He whispered under his breath, 'I should have stopped when the first two sneaked outside and almost got killed by a drakon.' He laughed. 'But I didn't, and I am grateful for that.


	84. A Little Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tours through camp half-blood aren't easy when everything distracts you.

Percy was just relaxing in his cabin, with a nice comic book. Yet, as said so many times before, peace doesn't last for a long time in the life of a demigod. Percy heard a knock on the door. He groaned, more dramatically than was really needed, but he just didn't want to stand up. He closed his comic book and went down the ladder of his bunk bed. He pulled the door open. 'What does thou want?' He asked.  
He saw that Chiron was standing in the doorway, with two girls and one boy that Percy didn't recognise. 'Hey, Percy, would you mind showing these three new campers the camp?' Percy nodded, but groaned at the same time. 'Sure. Let me just grab a hoodie. Also, why can't you do it?' Chiron shrugged. 'I have some paperwork to do, and my colleagues are both gone...' Percy nodded. 'Yeah, Argus is picking up Frank, Hazel and Reyna and Dionysus is on Olympus for more of Zeus' nonsense...' Percy sighed deeply. 'I'll do it. You go do your paperwork. Come on, kids,' He said to the little group.  
Percy stepped out of the cabin, with the hoodie still in his hands. 'So, what are your names?' He asked the three kids. The kids shuffled around a bit, silently, while shooting each other looks. 'My name is Eva,' One of them said, eventually. Percy nodded, and pulled his hoodie over his head. The boy opened his mouth as well. 'I am Michael.' 'Oh, and I am Lina!' the last girl quickly said. 'Alright, then. Eva, Michael and Lina. Let's go, shall we?'  
Percy yawned, and walked away. the three kids followed him. Percy smiled at then. 'Sorry. The game of Capture the Flag took a long time yesterday. Oh, yeah, we have Capture-The-Flag every Friday.' Eva clapped in her hands. 'Really? That sounds fun!' Percy giggled. He guessed Eva was about eleven, and probably the energetic one from the little group.  
'Yet, let me tell you everything from the beginning. In this camp, we are all children from the Greek gods. Everyone of the kids gasped. 'Really? And which one is ours then?' Lina asked. Percy shrugged. 'I don't know. But you'll be claimed by the campfire, maybe even tonight!' Eva and Lina squeed, but Michael was a little more cynical. 'How are we sure?' Percy shrugged. 'Well, they pop in every now and then, and also we have the god of wine walking around here all the time. He is on Olympus now, but there's a good chance that he'll be back in a few hours. Now, let me show you the cabins...'  
Percy tried to put a step forward, but he couldn't. He tried it again. 'Um, this usually doesn't happen...' He told the knew campers. He tried to lift up his foot once again. 'What is this?' Percy stared at his shoe, and saw that he was standing in a weird, sticky blob. He looked up. 'What is this!?' he yelled.  
The very next moment, he was tackled from behind by the Stolls. 'Percy! We see that you are the first victim of our new product!' Connor yelled. Percy tried to get up again, but it was no use. His arms were also stuck to the wooden sidewalk. 'Guys, what is this stuff?' Travis eyes twinkled. 'Super Strong glue mixed with something we found in the Hecate cabin.  
Percy's eyes went big. 'Guys, what if it explodes?' He yelled. 'And how do I get free!?' Travis and Connor looked at each other. 'We'll figure something out.' Percy almost screamed again.  
The three new campers stared at the whole mess. Eventually, Eva spoke up: 'erm... who needs to show us around, now?' Percy and the Stolls looked at them. 'Erm...' Travis begun, but at that moment Jason walked pass. 'Hey, what's going on? Does anybody want...'  
He was stopped by more yelling from Percy. Jason stepped onto the grass, and after a quick explanation promised to show the demigods around instead. The little group of four demigods walked over to the cabins. Jason pointed at the buildings. 'There is one building for each god. You have to sleep in the cabin of your own godly parent. Or, well, sometimes the only Hades child will get his boyfriend to nap on his couch, because of reasons.'  
'This is the Zeus cabin. He is my dad. Usually, this cabin is full, but because of an holy oath there aren't a lot of kids now. The oath was stopped about a year ago - to less for knew demigods to be brought to camp. This is Hera, which is always empty, because she is the goddess of marriage and can't have...'  
He was stopped by Piper stepping out of the cabin with a nonchalant expression on her face. Jason looked at her. 'Hey, Piper, what were you doing in there?' Piper looked at him with an expression that was way to innocent to mean anything good. 'Of course not, Jason dear. What would I he doing in the cabin of our beloved queen of the heavens?' Jason softly pushed her aside and stepped into the cabin.  
It looked like a bomb had exploded. There was glitter and paint everywhere, it looked like a trashcan was emptied on the floor, and there were posters of big foot on the walls. The portrait of Hera that hangs on the wall had stripes of paint on it, and also a mustache. 'Piper, what is this!?' Jason yelled.  
Piper didn't hear him, though. She had quickly offered to show the kids the camp and they had walked away. Piper showed them all the cabins. 'And this is where I live, the cabin of Aphrodite...' Lina squealed. 'Aphrodite? You mean the goddess of love and beauty? Oh, I love her!' Piper gave her a weird look, and at the same time decided that this was probably her little sister. 'Well, yeah, that's what Aphrodite's about,' Piper said, with an annoyed expression on her face.  
'Anyway, here is the Hermes cabin. This is where people of whom we don't know who the godly parent is get to sleep. And the kids of Hermes too, of course,' Piper continued. 'Here's the Dionysus cabin, he's out director by the way, and that is the Hades cabin.' Piper pointed at the pitch-black block of stone that was Nico's cabin. Just then, the door flew open and Will Solace came out. He was carrying Nico, bridal-style.  
'Solace! Put me down! It is just a small scratch! It's nothing!' Will rolled his eyes. 'Neeks, your entire ankle is bleeding and you can't walk. You need medical attention and you clearly need it now!' Nico groaned in protest. When they were gone, Piper stared at the cabin. 'That just happened. She smiled at Lina, Eva and Michael. 'Let's continue, kids!'  
But simply continuing in your merry way is not an option when one is a demigod. Butch stepped out of his cabin, with his siblings, and in the background Piper heard someone moving around on the veranda of the Dionysus cabin. Butch looked at Piper. 'Are they gone?' He asked. Piper nodded. Butch smiled in a way that wasn't exactly comforting and stepped into Nico's cabin. Pollux and Sheila quickly joined him. Piper stood still for a while. 'Wow! They really did steal my DVD of Gone With The Wind!' She heard someone call out. Piper decided that was a good moment to step inside and see what was going on. The three kids were left out again. Michaels lip started to shiver.  
Luckily for them, Chiron came walking onto the field. He looked at his three new children, I mean students, and asked: 'so, what do you three think of the camp so far?' Michael and Lina didn't move, but Eva shrugged. 'We've had three different people to show us around, and every time some shenanigans came up, so that they stopped giving us a tour again.' Chiron sighed deeply and shook his head. 'Come on then, I'll give you the tour.'  
Maybe it was just a coincidence, maybe the gods really felt for them, but all three of the kids got claimed the same day. Lina was, as earlier speculated, a daughter of Aphrodite, Eva turned out to be a child of Hecate and Michael was a son of the goddess Chloris (and therefor got his own cabin). Overall, things turned out fine for them.


	85. When Olympians Are Forced To 'Bond.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Athena and Dionysus are locked outside of an assembly, they decide to go into New York.

Athena was sitting in her palace, with a nice book on fifteenth century French History. It was quiet, and she was happy with that; It isn't often quiet on Olympus. It was so nice to have some peace for once, that for five minutes she didn't even think about the fact that it is suspicious that it is so silent on the mountain.   
She put her book down and walked to the balcony, which looked out over the main square of Olympus. Usually, it was full of minor gods, who where talking, drinking coffee or going to the Marketplace. Now, there was no-one. Athena immediately ran out of her palace, and onto the square. She looked around, but heard no sounds. She didn't see anyone.   
After a few seconds, she heard footsteps, and she saw Dionysus walking onto the square. He looked just as puzzled as Athena did. As soon as he saw her, he walked over to her. 'Athena, what is going on and why are you not involved?' Athena shrugged.   
'I don't have the foggiest idea, but there is nobody here.' Dionysus nodded. 'I see that, Athena. Have you already checked the board with Announcements?' Athena shook her head. 'I was about to do that.' Together, they walked to the board, which had only one piece of paper pinned in the middle. It said: 'On the fifteenth of January, there will be an assembly in the throne room. Everyone who isn't there at exactly half past eleven A.M., will not be allowed in and is expected to amuse themselves.'  
Athena sighed deeply. 'Well, alright then. I guess I am going back to reading, or something.' Athena tried to walk away, but stopped with walking when she heard her brother ask: 'What are you reading?' She turned around. 'A book on fifteenth century French history.' Dionysus raised his eyebrows. 'Alright then. Just as studious as your children, it seems. Logic and all, I know.' Athena didn't walk further. 'Do you think I am boring?' Dionysus looked at her. 'I didn't say that.' Athena shrugged. 'I know. Just... That book can wait.' A smile grew on her face. It was a smile Dionysus didn't usually associate with anything good.   
Athena grabbed him by the arm, pulling him along as she power walked back to the elevator. 'You know, I either sit in my palace, sit in a lecture hall or I am looking over a warfield. I don't think I have taken a good look at New York yet! And we've been here for about hundred years!' Athena punched the 'zero' button of the elevator, and the lift went down.  
'So, you want to sightsee in your hometown?' Dionysus asked, with a slightly to innocent tone for Athena. She let go of his arm. 'I guess? I just feel... rebelious.' Dionysus gave her such a weird look that Athena decided to just ignore it. 'What is the busiest street in the city?' She asked. Dionysus shook his head, accepted that the world was turned upside down today and answered: 'Sixth avenue, Broadway or third avenue, I believe. Yet, you know I have been locked inside that camp for the past eighteen years, right? I have no idea what is where in this city.' Athena shrugged. 'So?' Dionysus decided that talking back to Athena at this point was no use.  
The elevator doors opened, and the two gods got out. They walked past the front desk, out of the Empire State Building. The mortals didn't notice anything, of course - but the man behind the front desk stared at the two gods. He blinked, picked up his telephone, and rang up Zeus. As soon as the sky god picked up, he said: 'Lord Zeus, I am sorry to interrupt your assembly, but is there a reason Lady Athena and Lord Dionysus just walked out of the building and aren't with you?'  
Meanwhile, Dionysus pointed Athena to an underground stop. 'Let's go with the Underground. It is quicker than walking.' Athena grabbed his arm again and pulled him away from it. 'I want to walk.' Dionysus turned to her. 'Why?' 'How can I feel the true culture of New york if we go under the surface? I have seen the Underground often enough!' She heard a deep sigh next to her. She looked at her brother. 'Are you going to be annoyed the entire time we are walking in this city like that one time I asked you to show me Amsterdam literally five hundred years ago?' Dionysus shook his head. 'I hope not.'  
After sixteen minutes, they arrived on Times Square, in the middle of Seventh Avenue. Athena stopped walking, right in the middle of the square. 'You know, I am a goddess, and I live here, but I haven't seen this place in person even once. I was just two busy, I guess.' A sad smile appeared on her face as she looked around. Her eye fell on the shops. 'Let's go to the shops. Aphrodite Always likes those, right?' Dionysus nodded. 'She does. Yet, Athena, do you really want to go clothes shopping? It doesn't seem like something that you like...' Athena put her hand on his mouth. 'Whatever. Let's go.'  
They walked into a random clothes store, that turned out to be a Chanel store. Athena looked around. 'Wow. Do people really spend time and money in here?' Dionysus nodded. 'Not all of them, but Aphrodite spends an abnormal amount of time here. I know for a fact that she took all of her demigod daughters on a shopping spree in this city. Chiron was absolutely freaked out the entire day.'   
Athena touched a few clothing racks. 'So, can we go?' Dionysus shrugged. 'You wanted to come here.' Athena sighed. 'Guess I'll just go back to letting my handmaidens make my clothes, or doing it myself.' They got out of the clothing store again. Athena growled. 'I just want something exciting to happen!' She yelled. Dionysus rolled his eyes. 'Maybe you should try to not be serious all the time.' Athena raised her eyebrow. 'Should I get a drink?' Dionysus gave her a weird look. 'That's not what I meant… but go ahead, I guess.'  
Athena didn't get tipsy of that one drink, but she did get more outgoing, more of the thought that she would than that she actually did. The two gods decided to get lunch. Athena stepped into the first fast food restaurant they passed, and Dionysus just followed her. That restaurant turned out to be a Burgerking. Athena looked around. 'I don't think I've eaten here before.' She smiled. 'You eat healthy every day.' 'Why are you so annoyed today?' Athena giggled and bopped her head. Dionysus mouth fell open. 'Gods, you never giggle.' Athena rolled her eyes dramatically. 'What-ev-er. Let's just get burgers.'   
They ordered burgers. Dionysus started to get used to Athena's sudden outgoing behaviour, realising that it might get really funny. The person behind the counter handed athena their drinks and burgers. Athena grabbed them, grabbed her brothers' wrist and dragged him along, to Central Park.  
'So, Di, what do you think of Zeus?' Athena asked. Dionysus shrugged. 'Guess I owe my life to him, but he isn't really the best ruler, is he?' Athena giggled. 'Yep, same. Never thought I would be saying that out loud.' Dionysus laughed. 'What does it matter anyway? Also, I think Hermes is kind of annoying, but not very much.' Athena jumped up and down, spilling her drink accidently. 'I know, right? But, you know, he is not half as annoying as Poseidon. This one time, that barnacle beard tried to...' A huge splash of water raised up out of the lake in the park, and hit both deities in the face.  
'He tried to kidnap my owls,' Athena continued, not paying attention to getting completely wet. Dionysus laughed. 'Crazy. You need to find a more war-like animal. Nobody tries to kidnap a panther, you know.' Athena nodded thoughtfully. 'I guess your right.' it was silent for a while. 'Dio, have you heard that one story about Aphrodite getting locked in her room with nothing but an empty potato sack to wear?' Dionysus eyes went wide. 'Sister, tell me.'  
six hours later, they still hadn't gone back to the Olympus. Their entire afternoon had been filled with Gossip and deep, thought provoking thinkpieces, (and a whole lot of drama they have begged me not to tell you). Now, Athena and Dionysus had decided to find some place to get dinner. 'So, that's why I think west should be called east and east should be called west,' Dionysus finished. Athena nodded thoughtly, and then burst out laughing. 'This is just getting stupid, really.' Dionysus smiled and nodded. 'You're right. Oh, there is Greek restaurant over there!' Athena squealed and hopped over.  
They ordered their food. Athena put her head down on the table. 'I am tired. Also, next time we should go to the library and you could get more serious instead of me getting more weird.' Dionysus rolled his eyes. 'Why is everyone under the impression that I am that weird?' Athena stared at him. 'I am not answering that.'   
'We should just tell everyone about you getting as giggly as Aphrodite today.' Athena almost spat out her food. 'No way. No-one will take me seriously anymore.' 'Someone will notice. Also, it's you; just kick everyone who is laughing at you.' Athena rolled her eyes. 'Maybe. But I don't need everyone to know about that one part where I spilled my entire cup of soda on myself.' Dionysus bit his lip, trying not to laugh. 'If you say so, wisdomlady.' Athena laughed. 'That was stupid.' 'Yeah, whatever. I don't want anyone to know about literally losing part of my sleeve and wedding ring because I was too stubborn and walked to close to that one tree, because I got it back.' Athena almost spat out her food, almost bursting out laughing.   
'But, seriously, do not tell anyone that one part where I dropped my Phone into a puddle. Also, don't tell anyone that my iPhone is broken now. I literally lectured Aphrodite about that yesterday.' Dionysus played with his fork. 'I guess I also can't tell anybody about the part where you stepped on a cats' tail, which caused it to chase you around, and you yelled so loud everyone turned around?' Athena silently payed the check and coerced her brother out of the restaurant again before answering.  
'So, we'll keep silent about you nearly dropping into the lake of Central park, and you would've fallen in if I didn't grab your arm?' Dionysus shot her an angry look. 'Yep. Just like we won't talk about you accidently talking latin to this one person, who almost called the police after you got angry that he didn't understand him?' Athena swayed her hips around. 'Hmm. Let's not talk about you accidently getting us on the wrong underground four times, which is weird considering that you were the one to tell me that the Underground is so much easier than walking. Plus, let's also keep quiet about you accidently falling into a clothing rack, and then quickly running away.'  
They stayed silent after realising they had called each other out an equal amount of time. They wandered into some weird neighbourhood. Yet, two gods attract a lot of weird people. Monsters don't dare to get close, but clear sighted mortals notice. So, as soon as Sally Jackson realised there were to gods on her street, she decided to rail them into her home, just so they couldn't cause any more trouble while trying to flirt with a random guy on the street or accidently tripping over a five by five metre broad water fountain.  
She gave both gods a cup of tea, which they happily drunk. Sally realised Paul felt kind of uncomfortable with two Olympians in his living room, but putting them on the street again didn't seem like a smart choice to sally. Dionysus and Athena were just thankful to have a place to stay, where they didn't have to explain why they weren't at the assembly and didn't answer any Phone calls or Iris messages   
(The reason is because they were being Rebels, duh).


	86. Spanish Class To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spanish class... How can that be to the death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty violent, but not gory or anything. The involves a 'monster' getting pretty creepy, so be warned.

Magnus took a deep breath. Okay, he thought, it is just a language class. Nothing can go wrong. It is going to be fine. But deep inside he knew that it wasn't going to be fine. This was hotel Valhalla. Somebody would attack someone, and that would cause a chain reaction. After that first attack, more people would grab their weapons.  
He slid into his desk on the third row. Alex sat next to him, Mallory in front of them. T.J. and Halfborn had decided that Spanish class was boring, and so they were currently doing extra Sword Training To The Death (Magnus personally thought that was the most boring class in hotel Valhalla, but alas).  
When it was time for class to start, a bell rang. Magnus rolled his eyes. 'It is just like an actual school,' he whispered to Alex. His significant other chuckled. 'Let's hope Halfborn and T.J. aren't right with their 'But it is so boring!' lecture this morning, then. Magnus nodded. 'Yeah, and I hope...' He was cut of by some old lady which had wandered into the room. 'Mister Chase, el silencio!' She said. Somehow, Magnus realised that it meant that he needed to be quiet.  
The old lady wrote on the white bored (Sorry, there I go again!) that her name was Mrs. García. At least, Magnus thought that was her name. He truly couldn't keep up with the waterfall of Spanish words that came out of her mouth. He looked at Alex. 'Do you understand what is being said?' Alex nodded. 'Of course. Why wouldn't I?' Magnus didn't know if she was joking or not, like so often with Alex.  
The teacher clapped in her hands, and started to speak in English: 'So, today we'll have an extra teacher!' She clapped in her hands again, and looked at the door. 'You can come in!' She called. They heard footsteps, and the entire room started shaking. The steps got so loud, that Magnus started suspecting that Mrs. Gracía got a tyrannosaurus rex to help with Spanish. The door cracked open, and not a t-rex, but the Duolingo owl came into the room.  
A girl screamed, and ducked under her table. The owl stomped to the front of the room, where mrs. García was standing. She had a weird grin on her face. Magnus didn't like that grin. He looked at Alex. His mouth hung wide open. He tapped Magnus' shoulder. 'It's the Duolingo owl. Magnus, it'll eat us!' Magnus instantly believed him. The green owl didn't look like he was going to give them all candy.  
Mrs. García continued in Spanish, while the nerves where still flying through everyone's bodies. Yet, they all calmed down after ten minutes. And after twenty minutes, the huge green owl had been forgotten, and the lesson was just plain boring. So boring, even, that Alex laid his head on Magnus' shoulder and fell asleep. Magnus' eyelids started to feel heavy as well.  
But then, one boy sunk to the ground and stayed there. Mrs. García stopped talking. The friend of the boy, who had been sitting next to him, got out of his chair to see if everything was alright. Well, it wasn't, because the boys body disappeared. His friend started screaming. 'He died of boredom!' He cried. Mrs. García's mouth turned into a small line. She opened it to say something, but was abruptly interrupted by the Duo, who attacked the kid who had yelled it. Within seconds, the kid was gone, swallowed by the big, green owl.  
Magnus was immediately awake again, and pinched Alex to wake him up as well. Alex tried to say something, but Magnus put his hand over Alex' mouth and used the ASL-sign for swallowing. Alex understood, and turned his attention to the whiteboard. Mrs. García tried to say something, but she was stopped by her... 'colleague teacher' (and by stopped I mean that the owl put his huge wing over her mouth).  
The owl pointed at some random, poor child. 'You. How do you say 'the man has a pear' in Spanish?' The boy looked incredibly afraid. 'I... I don't know, sir,' he said. Magnus swallowed a lump in his throat. 'That kid is done for,' he signed to Alex. Alex nodded, almost invisibly. The owl got a furious look in her eyes. 'I am a lady owl, just so you know!' She bellowed, before picking up the boy with her beak. 'Now beg for forgiveness in Spanish!' The boy wailed. 'S-salva mi-mi Vida, por favor!' (Save my life, please!) He managed to say. The duolingo owl dropped him back in his chair. 'Bueno.' (Good).  
Then, Mrs. Gracía sunk to the ground. Her face was purple, and she disappeared. The duolingo owl gasped. After that, he shrugged. 'Well, I guess I held my wing in front of her nose too. Well, she'll come back. But it'll take a while, she lives on the fourteen hundredth floor, room 3, next to mister Manterra en Empress Sissi!' The owl grinned. 'So I'll be in charge for a little while!'  
It was then that Magnus feared for his life more than he had ever done during Kahoot. The duolingo owl would let them repeat sentences, but sometimes he pointed at some poor soul and demanded that they would translate something from English to Spanish. Nine times out of ten, that person would stammer something as response. The duolingo owl would either make them beg in Spanish, or just immediately throw them out of the window or swallow them. There seemed to be absolutely no way to tell what she would do.  
'Ms. Mallory Keen! Translate 'I am stupid because I have red hair' for me!' The owl screamed at Mallory. Mallory's face turned as red as her hair. She pulled out her twin knives, and jumped onto her desk. '¡Cállate, búho de gran tamaño!' (Shut up, big owl!) she screamed. The owl came towards her. Mallory held up her knives, ready to strike, but she stood no chance against the giant green owl. He swallowed her whole. Mallory's twin knives dropped on the floor.  
Magnus looked around. There were only five (terrified) teenagers left. He looked at Alex. 'Say, Alex, what do you think of some nice revenge?' He asked. Alex smiled. 'Buena Idea.' (Good idea). He got out his garotte. Magnus pulled Jack from his necklace. 'Hey, Jack, we gotta fight against a dangerous owl!' Jack immediately turned into a sword. 'Let's fight, Beantown!' He yelled.  
The owl turned around just a little to late. Magnus sword hacked into his back. The owl screamed a few Spanish words that I truly can't translate or even write down in Spanish, and turned around so violently that Magnus flew out of the window. He let go of Jack's hilt while falling down. He assumed Alex was either swallowed, or he had run away, and he was hoping it was the last one. While he was falling to his doom, he decided that maybe he shouldn't go to the German or Japanese classes next thursday.


	87. Prom-night shopping in England

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite knows where to send Percy for a suit for prom!

Yeah, Shopping! And Percy didn't like it. For some reason, Aphrodite had decided that he needed a shopping trip. He didn't know why, but he did know that he was currently in some giant mall, somewhere, with a pink, unlimited credit card, and a shopping list. He hadn't looked at it yet. He honestly couldn't get himself to do it.   
He sighed, and looked up at the sky. 'Say, Aphrodite! What about a shopping partner? So I don't pick the wrong things, you know? I mean, Annabeth has a good eye for it...' He heard a small gasp behind him. Happily, he turned around, expecting to see his girlfriend. Instead, he saw Sheila, who was clutching her cane. She was waving her other arm around. Percy grabbed her hand. She turned her head around, and stared at him.  
'Oh, eh... Sorry. It's Percy Jackson.' Sheila nodded, and she smiled at him. 'Right. Are we still at the camp, then?' Percy shook his head, but then decided that that wasn't going to work. 'Eh, no. We are at some mall, somewhere, and Aphrodite wants me to buy stuff. I asked if she could bring me Annabeth as a shopping partner, but apparently she send you instead.' Sheila laughed. 'Well, I guess that is a hint that you are going to have to do it alone.'  
Percy sighed. 'Probably.' He grabbed Sheila's hand. 'Eh, if you don't mind, Sheila, but I think this is the easiest way to guide you through this mall. Since you can't see where I am going, and stuff.' 'Yes, probably,' the girl agreed.  
Then, Percy decided to finally take a look at his shopping list. 'Ok, so, Aphrodite expects me to find a new suit, and a pearl necklace… she wants me to hire a limo? what?' Percy stared at the weird list. 'This is all just romantic trash!' Sheila tapped him on the arm. 'Well, it sounds like stuff someone would use for either a wedding or a school dance. So, are you going to your school's' Prom anytime soon, or are you and Annabeth secretly engaged?'   
Percy went silent for a little while. 'Wait, let me just get out my agenda,' he told Sheila. It wasn't like Percy had a very neat agenda, but sometimes Annabeth, Paul or his mother wrote something really important into it. He scanned the upcoming weeks, and lo and behold, there was a date for prom written into it (Like, a date as in the day, not a romantic date. Well, I guess it was romantic… but we're moving on).  
'Prom. Aphrodite wants me to go shopping for Prom.' Sheila nodded thoughtfully. 'That's probably also why I am your shopping partner and not she. It has to be a surprise. So, let's start with that suit.'   
'Yes, good idea!' Percy agreed, smiling. It took three seconds before that smile faded away. 'Ehm, do you know of any shops that sells suits?' 'Well, a few cheap ones. But, eh... I don't think Aphrodite will be content with cheap suits.' Percy breathed extremely dramatic. 'This is going to go nowhere. I don't know where anything is in this mall, and I don't know what is a good suit, and...'   
At that moment, a personal shopper popped out of nowhere. 'Are you mister Jackson? I believe your mother called me. You need a suit for a school dance, right? Oh, and this is probably the lady in question.' He winked at Sheila. Percy stared at the personal shopper. 'Ehm, Sir, I think I am the right mister Jackson, but that was my… aunt. Not my mother. And, eh, this isn't my girlfriend...' The personal shopper clapped so loud in his hands that Percy stopped talking. 'I am so sorry, Mr. Jackson. Yet, you still need a suit right? I guess the young lady is your sister, then? Well, she can still see what looks good!'  
Percy decided to just go along, but Sheila didn't let the personal shopper go that easily. 'Yes, sir, he does need a suit. Yet, I am his first cousin once removed, and also blind. I still have my cane in my hand, right? Or is this some random branch?' The personal shopper stopped walking. The colour left his cheeks while he stared at Sheila's cane. 'Miss, I am so sorry! How can I make it up?'   
'Apology accepted. Let's just find this boy a nice suit, so that his girlfriend has someone who is actually nicely clothes.' The personal shopper quickly nodded, and leaded both of them to the lift. They stepped inside, and the personal shopper pushed a button. 'I saw you wanted to buy more? A pearl necklace and a silver ring, I believe?'  
Percy didn't immediately answer. 'Eh, everything you mentioned, and I would like to see the book section, please.' The personal shopper nodded. 'Alright sir.' They heard a little bell, and the door went open. The personal shopper showed them a changing area. 'Wait here, please!' Percy nodded. 'Alright.' The man walked away, and Sheila and Percy stayed in the changing area.   
'So, Percy, why suddenly so interested in books?' Sheila asked. Percy shrugged, mostly because of habit. 'I want to give Annabeth something that Aphrodite didn't force me to buy.' Sheila nodded. 'That's a pretty good reason.' She snickered. 'Also, a silver ring? I Always knew Aphrodite wasn't really the goddess of subtlety, but that is kind of a dramatic.' Percy laughed. 'You're right.'  
Within four minutes, The personal shopper was back with seven suits. Percy gasped. 'Do I have to fit them all on!?' The shopper nodded. 'Yes. Don't you want to look good for your girlfriend, Mr. Jackson?' Percy nodded. 'Well, I guess...'  
Yes, he guessed, but after nine suits it was too much. He decided to pick a nice, dark blue suit, with black tie. Yet, of course he wasn't done. The personal shopper (Who had eventually told them that his name was Michael) pulled him to the jewelry section. Percy almost screamed while seeing the prices. He grabbed Sheila's arm. 'Sheila, that necklace with about one square centimetres of diamond is literally four thousand… pounds!' He whispered. Sheila turned her head towards him. 'Percy, Aphrodite is paying everything.' Percy thought about that for a while. Then, he decided that this might be the perfect way to get back at Aphrodite telling him that 'She would keep it interesting' (Did I say perfect? I meant 'Only way').  
So, he chose a ridiculously expensive necklace, with Pearls and diamonds. It looked so simple, that you could be forgiven for thinking it cost about twenty dollars and the gems were fake. Then, he chose a very nice, very simple silver ring. Percy didn't know if he would immediately give it to Annabeth, though. Maybe he could wait, and give it at a moment that felt more natural, or at least wasn't a promposal.   
After that, Michael brought him and Sheila to the book section. 'So, what are you going to pick?' Sheila asked. 'There is this detective series Annabeth really adores, and because this is Harrods, I expect them to have it in big print; you know, for people who can't see very good, but also perfect for people with dyslexia. She'll love it!' Sheila moved her head around a little. 'Well, you are her boyfriend, so you probably know what she wants. Just... Does Annabeth ever truly like the easy version of things?'   
'She does with books. I gave her a copy of Sherlock Holmes once, with big print, and she loved that too,' Percy answered. 'If you say so,' was all his shopping partner had to say to that. Percy rolled his eyes, forgetting that Sheila was not going to notice that. He found the volume Annabeth didn't have yet, and with everything they wanted, they went to the nearest check-out line. They paid for everything (Percy could have sworn the store clerk was enchanted, so that she didn't ask questions about the ridiculous amount of money these two teenagers were spending), and stepped out of the store.  
As soon as they had one foot outside, a pink cloud that smelled of roses and perfume picked them up and transferred them back to the USA. There, Aphrodite was awaiting them. 'So, Perseus and Sheila, darlings, what did you buy? I hope it is something nice. Truly, your parents are lovely, but their style is just so… of, sometimes. If I dare say, it was way better back in the ancient days!' Percy didn't answer. Yeah, okay, he had to agree with that.   
Aphrodite opened their shopping bags. 'Oh, how nice are all of these things! You just picked out just the right things, Percy! Except, the suit could be bluer, of course, and the Pearls are a little small...' Percy cut her of there. 'Yeah, eh, thanks, Aphrodite (Mostly thanks for not picking them for me, he thought). Yet, um, I'd like to go home now? Aphrodite shoved everything into the bag again. 'Go home? What? Oh, Percy, you still need to propose to your lovely girlfriend!' and so, Sheila and Percy were pushed back to earth again - right in front of Annabeth's house.   
Percy wiped the dust of his clothes, and straightened his back. 'Ehm, eh, do I look good enough?' He stared at Sheila. It took a few seconds before he realised how stupid that question was. 'Oh, right... Well, I am...' At that moment, the door flew open and Annabeth stepped outside. 'So, Perseus Jackson, do you want to go to prom with me?' she asked.  
Percy just hugged her. 'Yeah, wise girl, I do.' Annabeth smiled. 'Aphrodite decided to move the process along a bit.' Percy sighed. 'You gotta love Aphrodite, I suppose. He got the necklace and the book out of his bags. 'She made me buy this,' He said as he hung the necklace around her neck, 'But this comes straight out of my heart, He continued while he gave her the book. Annabeth cheered. 'Yes! Where did you get it? They don't have it in big print in Barnes & Nobles!'   
Sheila walked up to them. 'Well, Percy, I guess you are right, she does like the big print.' Percy tapped her arm. 'Obviously. This is my wise girl, immortal.' Sheila sighed. 'Oh, so now I get called 'immortal' already, huh? Crazy.' She smiled so wide while she said it, that Percy couldn't take her seriously. Annabeth chuckled. This shopping trip must have been weird, she thought.


	88. India! Great Idea..?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico has dissappeared in Mumbai and the rest tries to find him.

Percy wasn't sure if this was a stupid idea. That was unusual - most of the time he knew for a fact that his ideas were stupid and he just made them work. Now, he just let Annabeth push him into the taxi to the hotel. Annabeth sat down next to him, and Jason sat next to Annabeth. Annabeth pulled a binder out of her backpack. 'So. Guys, we have a mission, right here in New Delhi. Do you two know what that mission is. Percy and Jason nodded. Annabeth waited, with the expression most teachers get when they want an answer from the class. She kept that expression, until Jason said: 'We have to find Nico, because he shadow travelled here and is now to weak to get back.' Annabeth nodded.  
'Right. This cab should bring us straight to the hotel, which is probably close to the place Nico is staying, we think. He used his last drachma for that Iris-message to us, and he didn't have any rupees on him to pay for a hotel. We don't know if he has food or water, so we must be quick. Can you two tell me the actions we have to take after we've gone to the hotel?' Percy bobbed his head a little. 'We have to immediately leave all of our luggage in the hotel, except for the stuff we need to find Nico, which you already have in that fanny pack you have been wearing all day long. Then we have to walk to the place Nico is currently at, which is somewhere in this giant city.'  
Annabeth nodded. 'Correct.' The cab stopped in front of a hotel, and the demigods got out. They checked in, left their luggage in the room and got out onto the Streets again. Percy looked around. 'It's warm. And there are a lot of people.' Annabeth nodded. 'You're absolutely right, Percy.' She grabbed both guys by their collars. ' And we are going to find Nico.'  
The demigods knew they should be focussed on trying to find Nico, but he constantly got distracted by something. The city was full of people, and stuff that their brains from the western culture didn't usually see. Jason and Annabeth were squished together. Annabeth sighed deeply. 'Say, Jason, Percy, maybe we should hold on to each other, so we don't lose each other. Because if we lose someone, we will have to find two people instead of one.' Jason nodded. 'Good idea.' he grabbed Annabeth's hand. Annabeth reach for her boyfriends hand, but she couldn't find it. 'Percy?' She turned around, but there was nobody.  
Of course, Annabeth and Jason were the children of the goddess of Wisdom and the god of law and order. So, they reacted the way everyone who knew these gods expected them to react: They panicked immediately. 'Ok, ok, Jason, we need a new plan!' Jason looked at her like she was crazy. 'A new plan? We have to completely change this trip! We need to find Percy and Nico! We need to...' Jason waved his hands around. 'We need to do something!'  
Jason grabbed Annabeth's hand, and dragged her further, through the Streets of New Delhi. Annabeth kept screaming something, but Jason didn't hear it. He only stopped once he saw a river. 'Oh. Annabeth, we can't go further.' He turned around, and almost put a step back because of Annabeth's furious expression. 'Why did you run so extremely fast?!' she yelled. Jason shrugged. 'No idea. Panic, I guess. But, we've reached the Ganges!'  
Annabeth pushed him away. 'Well, I guess we did. Great. Now we have to get back into the part where we just where to find Percy and Nico.' Jason sighed. 'Annabeth, I think we need to make a new plan.' Annabeth nodded. 'Yeah, you are right. I think you should... HEY, That's Nico!' She screamed, as she pointed at a scrawny white boy with black hair.  
It was Nico. He hugged Annabeth and Jason extremely tight. 'Guys, thank the gods! I thought I would be stuck here for the rest of my life!' Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder, and looked at him. Nico's face was slightly more tanned than usual, but he also seemed slightly slimmer than usual. Annabeth grabbed his hand. 'You need food.' Nico rolled his eyes. 'Of course, mom. Let's get something to eat.  
They went to a subway, because Jason and Nico wanted to. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Do you two even know what culture is? Come on, it's India, are we really going to an American Fast food restaurant?' Nico grabbed her arm and pulled her along. 'Yes, Annabeth. Let us be uncultured American teenagers, please?' Annabeth gave him an angry look, but she went along.   
'This tastes terrible,' was the very next thing she said. 'We are going to eat something more Indian next time, just you watch.' Nico rolled his eyes. 'Why don't we just go home immediately?' Nico asked, while taking a bite out of his sandwich. Annabeth and Jason looked at each other. 'We lost him somewhere in the city while we were looking for you.' Nico took a deep breath. 'That's not good. Yet, uhm, maybe we can figure something out. I mean, what is a place Percy would go to?'  
Annabeth and Jason thought about that. 'Well, he'd try to find food before anything else,' She remarked. 'And Percy is more of an Extreme... American food man than you two. So, what's the most American place to get food that you two can think of, that's also in New Delhi?' Nico stared at her. 'Mcdonalds, of course.'   
Annabeth clapped in her hands. 'Then we go to Mcdonalds. It's a start, at least. And if this guy suddenly realised that he secretly loves culture... Then we have a problem.'  
Luckily, they found Percy actually sitting in the closest Mcdonald's. Nico and Jason hugged them, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes. 'Of course. You three are as cultured as one can get. Well, we have an entire day left, so I suggest we leave Nico in the hotel to take a nap. Then we...' 'Go ahead and do the same thing,' Percy finished the sentence for her. Annabeth decided to give up. 'Fine. I'll do some homework while you guys are being lazy, I guess.'  
She didn't do a lot of homework, because she fell asleep as soon as she hit the couch. Percy put a blanket over her, laid down right next to her and fell asleep as well. Jason giggled. 'They're cute together.' Nico smiled, and walked to the window. It was getting a little dark, and the lights of the city went on. 'This city is pretty, but... it isn't exactly perfect? I want to go home.' Jason nodded slowly. 'Me too.'


	89. Hestia, A Goddess As Sweet As Her Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth is having a hard moment. Hestia offers her a hand.

Chiron almost Always had time to listen to the problems of his demigods. Yet, sometimes, he had to go to mount Olympus for important things (Or just Zeus' nonsense. Zeus was not only the king of the universe, but also the king of thinking of nothing important). Then, what do the demigods do?  
Some demigods secretly called or iris-messaged their mortal parents, some others decided to talk to their demigod-peers. There was one fourteen-year-old girl who just talked to her pegasus (She claimed that she knew the flying horse was understanding her, or sometimes even talked back. People have stopped questioning it). There were a few brave demigods who decided to bother Dionysus with their problems, but he only seemed to listen and talk back under certain conditions. There was a small group of demigods who seemed to always talk to him instead of Chiron.   
Yet, Annabeth did not want to do that. She didn't have a lot with horses, did not want to talk to Dionysus unless it was necessary, and her father was almost Always busy, even in the summer. Her siblings were all busy with something, and Percy was surfing with Piper. So, she didn't really know who to talk to. She was just aimlessly walking through camp, kicking a rock. Eventually, she kicked it so hard that it flew into the hearth that laid right in the middle of the circle of cabins. A girl who was standing by the hearth looked up.  
Annabeth looked at her. It was Hestia. She raised her eyebrows, and decided that it was worth a shot. She walked over to the goddess. When she stood in front of her, she made a small bow. 'Lady Hestia, ehm...' Suddenly, it felt kind of stupid to ask a goddess for advice on her family. 'Um, nevermind.' Hestia gently grabbed her arm, and smiled so warmly that almost all of Annabeth's' worries melted away. 'Come, sit down, dear. Tell me what's bothering you,' Hestia said. Annabeth sat down, while Hestia made fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and chai appear.   
'Well, you see, my dad remarried after his relationship with Athena. My dad has Always tried to be supportive of me, but... sometimes he is just extremely busy. That's why I didn't call him. And, well, my stepmother doesn't really like me. She kept me away from my two little brothers and also my dad. That's why I walked away from home when I was seven…'  
'You walked away from home... at seven? How did you make it to camp?' Hestia sounded very concerned when she asked it. Annabeth took a small sip of tea, so that she didn't have to respond immediately. 'Well, you know the son of Hermes, Luke, and Thalia? They helped. And Chiron basically became my dad.' Hestia didn't press her for more details.   
'Well, That's Chiron. He was has always been such a sweetheart.' Annabeth nodded, and took a bite out of her cookie. 'Yes. But, ehm, yesterday I got a call from my stepmother. I decided to pick up, because our relationship was slightly better in the last few months. Well, it didn't go so well. She immediately started talking about how I had stolen something from my dad to get attention.' Annabeth got a very dark expression. 'She doesn't know what she's talking about! I didn't even know he had a model of that plane! It is just so… So...'  
Annabeth went silent. Hestia put a hand on her shoulder. 'Annabeth, do you know if anybody ever found it?' Annabeth got an even angrier expression. 'Yes,' she begrudgingly said. 'It was on my dad's desk the entire time. He knew that it was there, meaning that my stepmom was just imagining things.' She angrily broke of a bit of her chocolate biscuit. 

Hestia sighed. 'You aren't really happy with you, are you?' Annabeth nodded. 'My father is happy with her, so I won't complain. She is just, so biased against me. Always, I have done something wrong.' Hestia nudged her shoulder. 'Does she ever keep you away from your father, or treat you differently from your little brothers?' Annabeth shrugged.   
'She is nicer to her own kids, although she doesn't punish us unfairly. Yet, well... I think she does the first thing. When I was smaller, my dad taught me how to dance, and she Always told him there was no time for that. Now, he has taking up those lessons again sometimes. She doesn't say anything about it directly anymore, but she Always seems to think I have something else to do. She doesn't neglect to mention that.' Annabeth's eyes got a little wet. 'I told it to my dad once, but... I think he forgot. As I said, he is Always busy.'  
Hestia held Annabeth's hand. 'That doesn't sound very nice. Do you still want to go home after camp?' Annabeth nodded. 'Yes. For my father. I know he loves me, even though he sometimes forgets things. But, well, he also forgets to eat sometimes.' Hestia nodded thoughtfully. 'Do you have contact with Chiron, outside of camp?' Annabeth shook her head. 'I think it might bother him. He has the entire camp to look after. If I needed to talk to him, I'd stay at camp.' Hestia took a small sip of chai.   
'Annabeth, do you truly think that Chiron is to busy for you, someone he sees as one of his daughters?' Annabeth didn't say anything. After a few seconds, she shook her head. 'No. Of course not.' Hestia smiled at her, which made Annabeth feel warm and fuzzy. 'Than, girl, you should try calling him when the situation gets to dire. And, you probably know this, but get out of the house when it gets to hard to live in. Don't try to be stubborn and stick around. You have Percy as your fiance, right? You can go to his house if you don't want to go back to camp.'   
Annabeth blushed. 'He's my boyfriend, not my fiance, Hestia.' Hestia's eyes lit up mischevoulousy. 'Oh. Well, if you say so, my dear. Now, I guess Chiron is back. Why don't you discuss what we just talked about with him?' Annabeth laughed. 'Fine, my lady.' Hestia smiled again. 'Hestia is fine, dearie.' Annabeth nodded, while Hestia pushed an extra cookie into her hand. 'Someday, things will be better, Annabeth. Maybe not with your parents, but you already know that that doesn't mean you can't get a good relationship with anybody else.' Annabeth nodded. 'Thanks for the food and the advice, Hestia,' She said. The goddess gave her one more smile that would have made it irrelevant for Persephone to come back every spring, so warm was it, before she disappeared.  
While Annabeth walked over to the Big House to talk to Chiron, she looked at the cookie in her hand. She gasped. It was blue. She looked at the sky, and it was almost like she felt Aphrodite stare at her. 'Yes, Aphrodite, don't worry about your favorite ship,' she muttered. She rolled her eyes. Aphrodite's insistence that she and Percy be the cutest couple ever got on her nerves sometimes.


	90. Painting Class To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is used to dying during activities now, but something during painting class changes that.

Magnus didn't even know what to do anymore. Almost all of the classes turned into a massacre, and today he really just wanted a relaxed day, without dying (Oh, and he also made a bet with Mallory that he could stay alive for an entire day, while still doing an activity). Halfborn had asked him if he wanted to take the painting class with him, and Magnus had decided that he might has well. He could think of at least ten ways to die during a painting class, but the other classes sounded just as deadly, so it didn't matter (I mean, Sword-training, Cannon-shooting and the book club are, like, six times more deadly than painting class, am I right?).  
They arrived one minute early, and the teacher wasn't there yet. They picked out an easel. Magnus was happy that the paint was already there. For some reason, he had the extremely disturbing and terrible sight of having to make it from the enemies blood.  
After about three minutes, Mrs. García came into the room. Magnus swallowed a lump in his throat, while he got a disturbing image of the Duolingo owl teaching them how to paint. Mrs garcía had a smile on her face, and said: 'Well, class, today someone from Freya's region will come here to teach you how to paint! And don't worry, it isn't Duo!' magnus heard multiple people let out a sigh. He heard a polite knock on the door. 'Come in!' Mrs. García said. Magnus turned to the door - he felt afraid. Yet, all those fearful feelings immediately disappeared when he realised that the person who had stepped into the room was none other than Bob Ross.  
A few people gasped. One girl squeeked. Magnus felt a wave of relief coming over him. Bob Ross never seemed like the person to get super violent when the colours weren't mixed correctly, like a certain other art teacher Magnus rather wouldn't think about. In fact, Bob would probably find it funny. The teacher took the place of Mrs. García, who walked away, and stared at the classroom.  
'Do I get my own easel, or not?' He asked. Some girl gestured at the easel next to her. He smiled at her, and took his place next to her. 'So, start by painting what you want!' He announced. Magnus stared at his empty canvas. He decided he would make an illustration for a book he just read (The first part of the Hunger Games. He had no idea why he didn't read it earlier). He grabbed the red and orange paint, picked up a brush and started working on it.  
It was so relaxed, Magnus felt like he was back on earth, in a regular painting class, without his sword hanging around his neck. He could just paint his scene of devastation without being stabbed in the back. Every now and then, Bob would give someone advice, and nobody even got angry. That really never happened; usually, when anybody dared to get close to the work of an einherjar they would get mad.  
Yet, peacetime will be broken one way or another. When one girl from the 6th floor tried to tell the guy next to her that his painting might be better if he did something differently, he grabbed her canvas and smacked her over the head with it. She fell to the floor, dizzy and confused. The students wanted to continue with their work, but Bob screamed and ran over to the girl. 'Why did you do that?' He asked the guy, almost crying.  
The guy didn't know what to say. 'Um, she gave me advice and I didn't want her to do that.' Magnus looked at the guy. You could see in his face that he knew that that wasn't a valid excuse. Bob Ross didn't even look angry, just disappointed. That was worse, because nobody wants to see such a kind person almost in tears. The guy blushed, dropped his paintbrush and walked to the window. 'I'll throw myself out.' He jumped out, ready to respawn just in time for dinner.  
Bob told Halfborn to bring the girl to the hospital. Halfborn didn't want to tell him that they didn't have that in hotel Valhalla, because you just died and reappeared. He brought the girl away, deciding that asking the hotel manager what to do was probably his best bet. Meanwhile, painting class continued.  
Magnus painting was almost done. It was a scene of true destruction (what did you expect with something like the Hunger Games?), but it looked good. Then, as if the Norns had been waiting to ruin something, Magnus accidently dropped a speck of red paint on a green part. It messed up the piece completely. He stared at it, and just... felt like crying. He broke his paintbrush in half and growled.  
Bob Ross appeared behind him. 'It looks so good!' He said. Magnus shrugged.  
'I ruïned it.' He pointed at the red paint that had started to drip down, ruining even more of the painting. Bob laughed. 'That's a happy little accident. Come, you just need to make it better.' Bob got some paint, and swiftly made the red paint look like a mockingjay. Magnus gasped. 'It looks wonderful,' he said. Bob nodded.  
'You should always see the pretty things in something, boy.' He smiled again, and walked away.  
After the painting class, Magnus felt so peaceful inside. He even couldn't be bothered by the people screaming at each other in the elevator. He stepped out, onto his floor, and was immediately tackled by Mallory. 'Beantown! You're not dead! What witchcraft did you use?' Magnus stared at her.  
'Bob Ross, Mallory. Now take your happy little anger somewhere else, okay?' Mallory's mouth hung open, while she angrily got a huge bar of chocolate out of her pocket. 'Guess you win the bet. But sleep with one eye open, Beantown!'


	91. When Ariadne Visits Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Ariadne, wife of Dionysus, is in the camp for a mission.

'Say, do you know where Chiron is?' Someone asked. Percy turned around, expecting to see a satyr with a new demigod, or one of his demigod friends. Instead, there was a woman standing there. He looked at her. 'Eh, in the Big House, or the archery field if you've already looked there.' The woman shook her head.  
'I'll look in the house first. Funny that they called it the Big House. That's pretty straightforward.' Percy nodded.  
'Yeah. I'm pretty sure one of the earlier demigods just pointed at it and said that, the name stuck and it is easy.' Percy looked around. He had been waiting for Jason to come get him, so they could try to beat Nico and Will at Mario Kart (Team Sunny Death: 22, Team ThunderSeaStorm: 1. Percy and Jason had been ridiculously happy that one time).  
The woman smiled at him. 'Alright. See you around in camp, Percy.' She walked away. Percy stared at her for one second, and then started to look out for Jason again. People knowing his name wasn't really a weird thing, because he saved the world twice and all that. Yet, he had the feeling he had seen that woman somewhere before. He shrugged it of, though - he had seen a lot of minor gods once and never again.  
After five minutes, he decided to go over to the Hades cabin to beat Will and Nico on his own, but just then he felt two arms around his body, who pulled him straight into the air. Percy held back a scream, and sighed. 'Hey Jay Jay. Come, we have to beat team Sunny Death.' Jason pinched his cheeks. 'Hey! What was that good for, sparky?' He asked. Jason flew back to the Big House. 'Percy, you have arguments with Dionysus basically every other day because of the stupidest reasons, seemingly just because you want to challenge him, yet you don't notice it when his wife is standing right in front of you asking for directions?'  
'Oh.' Percy couldn't think of a better answer. Jason nodded. Percy tried to shrug while being flown around, which wasn't easy. 'She looks like Sheila, I guess.' Jason laughed. He landed in front of the Big House, where a small crowd of Demigods had gathered. There weren't a lot of devine visitors in camp, and there certainly weren't a lot of visitors who were also the wife of the camp director. Percy heard some people whisper. 'What's she here for?'  
'Is she really Mr. D's wife?'  
'I didn't even know he was married.'  
'What's her name?'  
Percy sighed. 'Jay Jay, you fight Nico and Will. I need to know what's going on.' Jason stared at him.  
'Percy, what are you planning?' Percy looked at him.  
'I'm going to just step inside and pretend like I have something more important to do.' Without saying another word, he stepped onto the veranda and actually did it.  
Jason didn't try to stop him, knowing that would be useless. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked around to see Annabeth standing there. 'What's going on?' Jason quickly explained the situation to her. Annabeth raised one of her eyebrows 'Well, that sounds like a Percy-worthy plan.' Jason laughed.  
'Yeah, you can see it like that as well.'  
As soon as Percy had stepped inside of the Big House, he had classified this plan as 'pretty damn stupid.' Yet, there was no way back. He looked around, and saw that Chiron and Ariadne were the only two in the room. He sighed in relief. 'Oh, eh... I had a question.' Chiron sighed deeply.  
'I am sure you did, Percy. Yet, can that wait just a few minutes?'  
Percy's common sense told him to take that excuse and run outside again. Yet, of course his ADHD brain won that battle again. 'No, yes, well... we all want to know what's going on.' Oh, shoot, I messed up, he thought immediately thought after that. 'Well, bye!' He said, while quickly jumping out of the Big House again. Inside, Chiron took another deep breath. 'Ariadne, I'll have to alarm Dionysus. If you could explain the story to the bunch of teenagers that is standing outside, that would be nice.' Ariadne nodded.  
'Sure, Chiron.'  
Percy basically fell into Annabeth's and Jason's' arms. 'I messed up.' Jason and Annabeth didn't react.  
'It's okay, Percy,' Annabeth begun. Yet, at that moment Ariadne stepped out of the Big House, and Annabeth stopped talking - just like everybody else, actually. The goddess coughed. 'So, I am here because of a... small problem, on Olympus.' Some kids started whispering to each other. Percy couldn't blame them; honestly, he didn't know as well if it was a genuine problem or just more of Zeus being a dummy.  
'Okay, there is a wedding from some god and goddess of another pantheon, and he needs a few demigods to show the other pantheons that Greece is still going strong. He wanted to ask Chiron and my husb... Dionysus, to point them out. Yet, Hera didn't want him to leave the mountain, and a whole lot of drama later they all decided I had to go ask them to do that.' She went silent. The crowd didn't respond for a while, but eventually they all started arguing between each other again.  
Percy sighed the deepest sigh ever sighed in the history of sighs. 'Yep, there goes my weekend.' Annabeth patted him on the back. Most of the kids started to walk back to their daily activities, so that Percy, Annabeth and Jason were almost the only people still standing around the Big House. Ariadne sighed, and wanted to get down from the veranda, but then Chiron walked through the door.  
Chiron started speaking to the goddess, so that Percy, Jason and Annabeth decided that it had been enough and they were going to go to the Hades cabin. Yet, they hadn't even walked six steps until Nico bursted out of nowhere. 'What's going on? I heard the rumour that Mr. D's wife is inside this camp right now.' Percy stared at him.  
'Well, you're right. Now Let's go and play Mario Kart.'  
Nico looked like he agreed with that, but at that moment Will arrived on the scene. 'Hey...'  
'Yes, Ariadne is here right now, over there on the veranda to be precise,' Percy said before Will could finish that sentence. The sunny boy closed his mouth, but then opened it again: 'what for?' Percy groaned as an answer, so Annabeth swiftly explained what was going on. Will bit his lip. 'Well, Percy, maybe... you know...' he didn't finish that sentence.  
Dionysus stepped out of the Big House, looking around. He stopped walking as soon as he saw Ariadne. Chiron had told him that there was a goddess in camp to do something for Zeus; he had neglected to mention that that goddess was also his wife. He looked at her for a few seconds, until Ariadne decided that it had been enough and she just walked over to and hugged him. He put his hand on her shoulder and pressed a kiss on her forehead.  
All of the demiamigo's saw it and for once they were all quiet (for six seconds, which is a new record). Until Jason unenevitebly broke the silence: 'that is probably the most tender moment in this entire camp since Will first kissed Nico.' Will and Nico both blushed, Annabeth gave a single nod and Percy clearly wanted to say something snarky, but then the horn announcing dinner sounded and he didn't get the chance.  
The demigods started wandering to the dinner pavilion. Percy sighed. 'I wanted to make a snarky comment, but I forgot what I wanted to say.' Jason patted him on the back.  
'You know what Percy, that might be a good thing. ' Percy didn't answer to that, as they wandered into the Pavilion.  
Annabeth sat down at the Poseidon table. Percy raised his eyebrows. 'Annabeth, Dionysus will send you back to your table anyway, so you might as well...' Annabeth shook her head.  
'Percy, I bet you an entire bar of chocolate that he won't even notice.' Percy sighed.  
'Maybe.'  
Dionysus didn't notice, and Annabeth was not the only one who figured that he might not. A lot of demigods were sitting somewhere where they were not supposed to sit, and Chiron was to busy thinking about who he might send to Olympus to care about it. When Ariadne entered the pavilion, she got a lot of side-glances from campers (because her presence meant that they might got to see their camp director be completely focused on her and not on them, and that was funny and meant that they could get away with a whole lot more than usual). She just hugged Sheila (Pollux turned his head away, but got a friendly smile from her) and walked back to the head table.  
Annabeth took a bite out of her burger. 'I told you he wouldn't notice.' Percy stole one of her fries.  
'Just you watch, the Stolls are going to exploit this.' Annabeth laughed.  
'What do you think they'd do? Buy a bunch of chickens and hope that Chiron and Mr. D are so distracted by 'who do I have to pick' and 'oh gods my wife is here right now' that they don't notice it? I mean, not noticing that people have changed tables is one thing, but not noticing a Stoll prank is kind of a lot.' Percy smiled.  
'Oh, they'll do it. We just have to wait.'


	92. The Stolls Take Advantage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ariadne is still in Camp, which distracts the counselors. How can the Stoll let this chance for shenanigans slide?

Ariadne was still in camp, and, just like Annabeth had predicted, the Stolls took the advantage of Chiron and Dionysus being distracted by other important things. Chiron was talking to the campers, asking them if they could go to Olympus (He could just point to them, but it was Chiron and he didn't want to do that), and Dionysus tried to spend as much time with his wife as possible. Therefore, the Stolls decided to try some ideas they had had for a while now.  
They were now standing in the Poseidon-cabin, behind the bunk-bed. Percy had just gotten a new cupboard, and it was still completely empty. Of course, that meant he asked to be stuffed into it, preferably with somebody else (That's logical, right?). As soon as Percy had stepped out of his cabin to get some stuff that he had stored in the Athena cabin, the Stolls had taken their place. Now, Percy was heading back to his cabin, with his stuff.  
Of course, Percy being Percy, he dropped all of his stuff on the floor as soon as he stepped in. After that, Piper came running in. 'Percy! Annabeth has to talk to Chiron and Mr. D! I'm helping you!' She proclaimed. Percy stared at her. 'Cool. So, um, I guess we hang the shirts on the coat-hangers, and the comic books on the planks.' Piper started to collect Percy's collection of comics from the books on the floor, while Percy picked up his shirts.  
The Stolls took their chance. Connor pushed Piper into the closet, and Travis pushed Percy right next to her. Before they noticed what was going on, they locked the closet and ran away before Piper could charm speak them into letting them out.  
Percy let out a deep sigh (sighing is the activity demigods indulge in the most, just before seeking food). 'So... I guess we have to get out. On our own,' Piper whispered. Percy nodded.   
'Yup. And I guess Annabeth was right when she said the Stolls would pull some kind of stunt.'  
Piper banged on the door. 'HEY! Anybody! Let us out!' Percy stared at her.   
'Piper, I don't think that is going to work.' Piper turned her head to him and rolled her eyes (because they slowly changed colour it looked pretty psychedelic). 'Do you mean that, Jackson?' she said (Sarcastically, of course, because 85% of things Piper say are sarcastic). Percy gave her the most confused look he could, and reached out his hands for emphasis. Yet, he did that so quickly, that he accidently hit the closet door.  
'Ouch!' He yelled. Suddenly, he heard muffled sounds from outside the closet.   
'Percy? Are you in there?' He heard Leo's voice ask. He sounded like he was waiting to laugh like crazy and tell the entire camp that Percy was stuck in the closet. Percy sighed, and opened his mouth to ask Leo to just get a crowbar or something and get him out, but for some reason, Piper yelled: 'LEO! Percy and I are stuck in here! Do something!'  
Percy counted down the three seconds Leo was silent, waiting for the eruption of laughter which was going to inevitably come out of his mouth. When it was still silent on the fourth seconds, Percy turned to Piper. On the sixth second, he wanted to open his mouth to ask something, but then he heard a weird sound and a thud. After that, Leo started laughing so loud that Percy wondered if Leo was still alright. 'Leo? Are you dying of some horrific disease or just laughing because me and Piper are stuck in this closet together?' The answer was just even louder laughter.  
From inside the closet, Percy heard the door of his cabin open. He heard Annabeth's voice ask: 'Leo, why are you laughing like somebody stepped into one of the Stolls' traps on the floor of Percy's cabin?' Leo hiccupped a few times before he stopped laughing. 'Piper... the closet... locked... Percy....' he said in between laughs. Percy heard footsteps coming over to the closet. 'Is somewhere in there? Percy?' She asked. Percy looked Piper straight in her (currently brown-gold) eyes as she said. 'Yes! And I am here to! The Stolls pushed us in!'  
Percy recognised that Annabeth was trying to hold back her own laughter as she answered: 'I'll get Chiron to get you out. Leo is laughing like a madman and probably is not going to be able to get you out, and I don't think the Stolls will be helpful either. But, Percy...' Percy growled.  
'Yes, Annabeth, you were right. The Stolls would take advantage of Princess Ariadne being here.' Annabeth knocked on the closet, said 'thanks,' and walked away. It was a good thing Percy couldn't see her smug face.  
Piper said down. 'Guess we have some time to talk. So, Percy, what's your favorite colour?' Piper asked. Percy nodded and sat down next to her. 'Blue, of course. What's yours?' Piper blushed.   
'Do you swear not to tell anybody?' Percy nodded (knowing full well he probably would not be able to keep quiet about something like that). 'It's pink.' Percy laughed.   
'Really? It is like that one time we went to the mall! And you wanted to go to Sephora! Your inner Aph-ro-di-te is s-h-o-w-i-n-g!' Percy said. Piper gave him her dark expression, while playing with her sleeve. 'Never say that again, because I'll throw you in front of Drew and her make-up kit.'  
Percy tried to stop laughing, because the idea of being thrown in front of Drew and her Make-up kit was scary. He let out one more giggle, and then took a deep breath, while thinking of sad seal pups. 'Okay. Well, um...' Percy's mind went blank for a few seconds. 'So, the sun is going to give up one day, you know? How will that happen, if Apollo, Ra and whoever drive the sun? Also, will the gods still be immortal? Will they persist?' Piper's mouth hung over, as she tried to get comfortable in the small closet. 'I have never thought of that. I mean, their areas of expertise will fade and so will they, right? I think?' Percy twirled a streak of still slightly blue hair (a result of a prior prank of the Stolls).   
'Well, I think...'  
Annabeth walked over to the Big House, and burst through the door. 'Chiron! The St...' Chiron waved his hands.   
'Please, Annabeth, we are busy.' Annabeth looked around. Chiron was in wheelchair-form, sitting at a table with an immense amount of documents and notes in front of him. Dionysus was sitting in front of him, reading through another document. He had slight bags under his eyes. Next to both of them, Ariadne was leaning on the table, with a cup of coffee. She looked pretty tired as well, but she looked less stressed than Chiron and Dionysus. Chiron had the deepest bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in the two days Ariadne had been in camp. 'The gods want us to choose someone by twelve 'O clock, tonight, and by these orders.' He gestured at the tower of papers.  
'I know, but the camp has been...' Chiron silenced her again.   
'Annabeth, the camp is doing fine! I'll clear it up once I am done.' Annabeth looked at him. The last time Chiron hadn't had time for her, was when she was nine, and Zeus had decided that Chiron was somehow responsible for his throne missing. It must be pretty serious, she thought. Her eyes drifted over to Dionysus, but he didn't seem to notice. He had picked up a new document, but was seemingly not reading what was written on there and had reached the end of the universe, that's how deep in thought in seemed to be. He wasn't going to help get Piper and Percy out of a closet.  
Then, Ariadne stood up. 'I'll see what's going on.' She grabbed Annabeth's hand, and walked her out of the Big House. Annabeth didn't even notice the last bit - she was kind of confused. She pulled her hand out of hers. 'Alright. So, eh, the pranksters of camp have locked Percy Jackson and Piper Mclean into s closet, and I wanted to get Chiron to help get them out, because the campers are to busy laughing.' Annabeth frowned, as she decided how stupid that must sound to a goddess. Yet, she had done weirder things.  
Ariadne bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She remembered that she and her sisters had once done something like that, by locking two of her brothers in a small room together. She was pretty sure the reasoning behind it had been that they had tried to steal something incredibly minor from them. Her mother Pasiphae had made sure they got of with it without much problems, Minos had been angry from the center of his soul. She had talked to a few campers over the past few days, and she thought they were sweet.  
Annabeth stopped in front of the Poseidon cabin. 'I don't know if my friend Leo is still laughing like an idiot inside, or of has somehow made it over to his cabin to tell all of his siblings and everyone else in camp about what went on in the Poseidon cabin. Annabeth opened the door, took a deep breath and stepped inside. Leo was leaning against the bunk bed, reading a comic book. When Annabeth and Ariadne stepped inside, he said, without looking up: Percy and Piper have been having a talk about existentialism in that closet. I started reading these things to get my mind of that, because it was weird.'  
Ariadne stroke three fingers through her hair (a nervous habit. Annabeth was sure she had seen Sheila doing it too). 'So there are two campers stuck inside this closet? Does no-one own a master key?' Annabeth looked at her, and felt her cheeks turning red. She hadn't thought of that. Why hadn't she thought of something so obvious? Her mouth fell slightly open, while Leo looked like that might be a good idea. 'Nyssa has one. I'll be back. Don't let Piper and Percy's depressing thoughts get to you.'  
Annabeth bit her nail. 'I didn't think of that...' she muttered. Ariadne put a hand on her shoulder. 'Are you missing Chiron?' She asked. 'He told me he usually asks you how you are doing every day, but that he forgot yesterday.' Annabeth nodded slowly. 'Yes,' she whispered. Ariadne squeezed her shoulder.   
'He'll be done with the work tonight, Annabeth. He felt really bad when he forgot yesterday.' Annabeth smiled at her, but the moment was ruïned when Percy yelled: 'Chiron does that? That's so sweet! Man, Annabeth, you are lucky!' (Wait, did I say it ruïned the moment? Forgive me, I meant it made the moment a million times better).  
Leo came back with a master key. He shot Ariadne a look with puppy-dog eyes. 'Please don't say anything about this master key to Chiron or Dionysus. They are kind of forbidden inside this camp.' Ariadne nodded reassuringly.   
'I'll keep quiet.' Leo gave her a thumbs up, then opened the closet door. Percy and Piper came tumbling out, already cheering.  
Piper jumped up. 'We're free! We're free!' She grabbed Percy's arms, and twirled him around. Percy tried to do a fortnite-dance, and Annabeth acted like she didn't see that. 'Well, knowing our track record, we should be hearing the horn for dinner right about... now.' She was right, and the horn went off just as the demigods and the goddess stepped out of the Poseidon cabin (Annabeth neglected to mention that she had quickly checked the time on her watch, while everyone was being surprised about her great feeling for time).  
The campers were all inside the pavilion, but Chiron and Mr. D where nowhere to be seen. After seven minutes of waiting, Argus decided that he was hungry and he gestured that the campers could start eating. His eyeballs kept bouncing around, seemingly to find the two people on charge. The campers, who didn't really care if they didn't show up, started eating.  
Half-way through dinner, Annabeth got up from her seat at the Athena table and sat down at Poseidon's table, next to Percy. 'Chiron told me they have to have the demigods picked out by midnight. I think they'll tell us during the campfire.' Percy nodded slowly. He was tired, and his muscles ached from behind stuffed in a too small space for to long. 'It doesn't really matter. They'll want to show me off to the other Pantheons anyway.' Annabeth didn't nod, but she knew that he was probably in the right about being dragged to Olympus.  
When dinner was almost done, Chiron and Dionysus finally entered the pavilion. Chiron was carrying a small piece of paper, and looked around to get attention. Dionysus walked over to the head table. The campers turned to Chiron, and he started talking: So, I have picked a few campers, who'll have to stay on Olympus while the gods of the other Pantheons are there as well.' He yawned. 'If looked at scores during training, amount of quests, what those quests meant, how you behave with other people and go...'  
'Chiron, you are clearly very tired, so just get to the point!' An Apollo-camper yelled. Chiron nodded slowly.  
'So, Meg Mccaffrey, who I was subtly told to send over by lord Apollo (Apollo had send a letter saying that Meg should come four times a day. He wanted to tell everyone how he helped her through her quest, even though deep down he knew Meg would turn it in such a way that he would look like a total idiot), Piper Mclean and Jason Grace, who will represent the seven (Piper and Jason groaned. They had a romantic trip to Mcdonalds planned that saturday, and that was not going to go through), Will Solace, because of the medical field (Nico clung to his boyfriends' arm, and Will decided that be should ask Chiron if he was allowed to bring a plus one, so that Nico wouldn't eat nothing but potato chips all day long), Annabeth Chase, the architect (Annabeth pursed her lips), and Clarisse la Rue, who is our best warrior ('no!' The daughter of Ares yelled).'  
Chiron went silent, but kept staring at his piece of paper. Percy, meanwhile, jumped up, ran over to Chiron and hugged him. 'Chiron, thank you so much that I don't have to waste all my free time on that mountain!' He yelled. Chiron patted him on the head. 'Its alright, Percy. I also thought that the other pantheons already knew, to be honest...' percy walked back to his table, doing something that looked vaguely like the Chicken dance. Annabeth, meanwhile, wasn't very happy, but what can you do (against the gods)?  
That evening, Ariadne had to leave to bring the list of demigods over to Olympus. She knew full well that Zeus would whine about at least three of the demigods mentioned, but again, what can you do? She finished packing everything back into her backpack, and walked downstairs, to the main room of the Big House. She wanted to walk out, but felt that her husband grabbed her hand. She turned around and hugged him. 'See you again during the summer solstice. I don't think there will be time to see you during the event I was here for...' Dionysus pressed a kiss on her forehead.   
'I'll make time,' he muttered, before she stepped out of the door.


	93. Book Club To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Book clubs are nice and peaceful! Unless you live in Hotel Valhalla.

Magnus liked to read, so when he heard that there was a book club, he joined it. He was a simple man like that, sometimes. This was the very first session, and they had decided to read Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë (a book which your loving narrator absolutely hates, but I'll try to not go on a rant). Magnus didn't quite like it, but thought it was alright. He arrived at the room in which the book club took place, and was surprised to see that there were couches with soft cushions everywhere. In the middle of the room stood a small coffee table, and a few people were already seated on the sofas. Magnus sat down next to the only other girl he knew, which was Sarah, from floor six.  
They waited ten minutes, and when no-one else came into the room, the leader started the session. 'So, everyone, you can tell me what you think of the book, but first, please tell me your names!' She pointed at an older man, who was sitting next to Magnus. The man wanted to say his name, but then the door flew open. Magnus looked at it, and decided that this would be the perfect moment for thunder to strike and dramatic music to play, because there in the doorframe stood Mallory, with her own, shiny copy of wuthering heights.  
Magnus bit his lip. Mallory didn't really like to read, which meant there was only one reason she was here: she wanted to get revenge on him, because of the time he had won a bet against her by not dying during painting class. She sunk into the Sofa, between Magnus and the old man. 'I'd like to join, please,' she said, with a grin in Magnus' direction. The woman who ran the club nodded happily, not noticing the death glares Mallory and Magnus were giving each other.  
'So, once again, what are your names?' Everyone in the group mentioned their names, and then the session truly started. 'But first, who wants a cup of tea with a cookie?' Everyone put up their hands, and the woman started happily giving people cookies and tea (except for Mallory - she grabbed two cookies, like a true rebel).  
'So. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë.' The leader clapped in her hands. One girl (Elisa, Magnus believed,) raised her hand. 'I thought Heathcliff was terrible, because he literally...' she was broken off by the old man.  
'No way! Heathcliff was nobel! Catherine had to be a golddigger to marry Linton! It isn't...' Elisa jumped up, which caused her to spill her cup of tea. 'You're wrong! Emily would never...' the leader clapped in her hands.  
'Elisa, Jean, please calm down or fight it out.'  
'Fight it out!' They yelled at once. Magnus and Mallory shot each other a look. Magnus didn't know how they could fight it out in this small room without having to break everything (but then again, maybe that was supposed to happen). The leaded pushed a cushion aside, and picked up the remote control that was lying underneath. She pushed a button, and part of the wall moved aside. Behind that wall was a boxing ring, with chairs and a bunch of bookcases shoved against the wall.  
Elisa and Jean climbed into the ring, as the rest of the book club members sat down around the ring. Magnus looked around the room. Of course. Of course this wasn't going to be peaceful. If there would be an activity called 'Peace to the death,' someone would find a way to make it violent.   
'Contestants! Take your places!' the leader yelled. Elisa and Jean took their places. The leader got an air horn out of the nowhere. 'Alright! Go!' She yelled, while she made the air horn go off. Magnus held his hands against his ears, but it didn't help. When the sound of the airhorn died down, Magnus didn't know what was going on because his ears where ringing to hard. Someone had done something with that airhorn, probably for an activity called 'Loud sounds to the death' (Yes, that is a real thing, and Magnus had sworn long ago that he would never put a foot into the room it was being held in).   
When Magnus looked back up at the ring, Elisa just punched Jean straight into his gut. Jean bent over. Elisa placed her knee in a very painful place, and pushed Jean to the ground. The leader counted to three, and after that sounded the airhorn again. '... Won! Wuthering Heights is problematic!' She said, way more cheerful than you would think (Magnus didn't hear the first words she said. Somebody clearly did something to that airhorn, and for some reason nobody had put it right).  
After the battle was over, Magnus made the mistake to look at Mallory while they walked back to the tea-room. She gave him a look that could only mean one thing: 'I'll disagree with anything you say, and when it's time, I'll kick your butt in the ring.' Magnus decided at that moment not to say anything, a resolution of which he knew he couldn't keep it.  
The discussion went on for a while, and Magnus kept his mouth shut. He looked at his pocket watch, and realised they only had fifteen minutes to go. A smile grew on his face. He might actually be able to survive this! He reached out to the plate with cookies, but then heard a few dreaded words: 'Magnus, what do you say when you want another biscuit?' Without thinking, Magnus said: 'Miss, can I please get another cookie?'   
Mallory jumped up, and Magnus realised his mistake. 'Magnus, I disagree with that, and veto you to the ring. You don't deserve another biscuit.' The leader got up before Magnus could protest against that, and felt that he was dragged into the ring by the rest of the book club.   
He looked around, and stared at Mallory. Hm, he could go for her head or her chest. If he chose the wrong place, he would be defeated. Head or chest? Before he could really choose, the air-horn sounded again, and Magnus just stood silent still.  
It was enough. Mallory charged at him, smacked him on the head with her copy of wuthering Heights and also hit him in that spot that hurts a lot. Magnus gave up and sunk to the floor, while Mallory stabbed him. He felt the molecules of his body return to his bedroom, while that terrible air horn went off again. Weird. He didn't even know you were allowed to bring a weapon to the book club.


	94. Theme Parks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theme Park and demigods, mix them together and you'll get Shenanigans.

Februari. A season that is rainy, cold and dark. What can you do about it? Well, when your father is rich actor, you take your friends to a theme park! Piper happily jumped out of the minibus. She pulled Jason along (He almost fell face-first out of the bus). 'Now, guys, we are at Six flags!' She yelled. She jumped up and down. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Calm down, Piper. We need a plan. We don't want to wait in a line for a ride we all hate!' She said. Piper sighed dramatically (She took more from her parents than she wanted), and laced her arm into Jasons'.  
'Come, Jason, we are going to let Annabeth sit here with her plans! I want to go on a rollercoaster!'  
Jason and Piper ran off, into the theme park. Annabeth looked at the map. 'So, Hazel, where do you want to go?' She asked? Hazel stepped gracefully out of the car. Frank stepped out after her (A whole lot less graceful). 'I want to try a rollercoaster,' Hazel said. 'I never went into one. I think it might be fun to get into one with a free-fall.' Annabeth stared at her, like she couldn't imagine Hazel going into a scary rollercoaster. '... Are you sure? I mean, your demigod-element stands closer to the earth...' Hazel nodded at her.  
'I know for sure.'  
After fifteen minutes, Percy, Annabeth, Leo and Calypso had lost Hazel and Frank. Annabeth looked like she was worried for a few seconds, until Percy pulled her towards a haunted mansion. Annabeth shook her head. 'No. Why do we have to go into the haunted mansion? I...' Percy looked at his girlfriend. He had never thought she would be nervous about something like a haunted mansion in a theme park. '...I don't particularly like those...' She continued.  
Calypso patted her on the arm. 'We'll keep the spiders away.' Annabeth smiled, still looking nervous. They heard Leo whistle from the begin of the queue. 'Are you guys coming?' he yelled. 'I think I saw Nico shadow travel Will inside! Which means...'  
'They are planning something!' the other three said in unison.  
Hazel had pulled Frank to the highest rollercoaster the park had. Frank put a step back. 'Are you... sure, about this? It is pretty high.' Hazel nodded, and Frank bit his lip. She was very sure about this. He took a deep breath, and calmed himself. 'Let's... do it, then.' Hazel smiled at him.  
'I'll hold your hand! Don't worry!'  
Hazel did hold Franks' hand. And he still didn't like this monster of a rollercoaster. When the roller coaster reaches its highest point, Hazel let out a little shriek. 'Frank, you are squishing my hannnnddd...' she said, as the rollercoaster went down. 'Yay! This is fun!' Frank couldn't really say he felt the same way. When they got of the rollercoaster, he held on to a wooden beam with one hand and onto his girlfriend's' arm with the other. 'I'm dizzy. Let's... do something less thrilling.' Hazel giggled.  
'Alright. But can we go onto at least one more rollercoaster? I like them!' She skipped away, while Frank was wondering how this girl from the thirties could like these iron monsters so much.  
Piper knew she has told Jason she wanted to go onto a rollercoaster, but on their way they came past a stand with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and they both decided that the roller coasters could wait (besides, have you ever seen how crazy the rows at the ice-cream stands get? The lines for the thrill rides are nothing next to that). Of course, you can't eat ice cream in a roller coaster, so they decided to visit the gift shop. As Piper was looking through the usual souvenirs that you can find at a theme park (she wondered if she should start a snowglobe collection - the twenty kinds in this gift shop would give her a nice head start), she saw a girl standing by the information desk, and she thought she recognised her.  
She walked over to Jason, who was trying to choose between two scarfs. 'Say, Jay-Jay, I see someone who I recognise by the tourist information. Maybe it is someone who knows my dad, and then she'll try to talk to me. Let's go,' she said, while pointed to the information desk. Jason looked over. 'Pipes, I think... I think that's Sheila?' He said, or more asked. Piper raised her eyebrows. 'You know what, Jason, go further with picking a nice scarf. I'll go ask her if something's wrong, because I don't think blind people wander around in theme parks a lot.'  
She went over to the tourist desk, and stood next to Sheila, who was waiting for someone to notice her. Piper coughed. 'Hey, Sheila, it's me, Piper.' The girl didn't even seem startled.  
'Hm? Oh, Piper Mclean, right? Are you also lost?' Piper shook her head, then decided that that wasn't going to work. 'No. I just saw you standing here and wondered what was going on. I mean, I don't think there are a lot of blind people usually just walking around theme parks without a guide.' Sheila nodded.  
'Of course not. I should have been here with two of my sisters. They wanted to go to something called 'zero gravity,' but I lost them among the way. So I wanted to ask someone where that attraction was, and the person who I asked immediately lead me to the information desk. Not used to blind people, probably.'  
'Well, alright,' Piper answered. 'Yet, me and Jason were going to Zero Gravity. You can come along with us if you want to.' Sheila smiled.  
'Yes, please.' Piper clapped in her hands.  
'We were at the gift shop across from here. I'll, eh...' Sheila hooked her arm through hers.  
'This will be the easiest. I can't lose you as well this way.' Piper nodded again, and together they walked to the gift shop and informed Jason, who had just bought the most horrendous green scarf Piper had ever seen (she knew for sure that if Drew ever saw it, she would scream and faint on the spot).  
'Guys, I think I've lost Leo,' Calypso muttered. Halfway through the ride, Annabeth had seen Will and Nico walk around, and she decided she wanted to see what they were up to. So they were now walking around in a haunted mansion, and, to Annabeth's' disgust, there were spiders everywhere. She felt a chill go up her spine when she saw an exceptionally big one just chilling right next to her. Percy turned around. 'What do you mean, "I've lost Leo"?' Calypso bit on her nails. 'Exactly what I said. I can't find Leo anywhere.' Percy felt like screaming.  
'Calypso, he could be everywhere! What if he is standing around the corner, waiting to scare us?' Percy asked. Calypso crossed her arms and gave him an angry look. 'It is not my fault he ran away, Jackson!' Percy bit his lip, when he heard Annabeth scream. He ran over to her. 'Annabeth! Is Leo here?' Annabeth turned around.  
'No? I saw another very big spider. Sorry I screamed.' Percy patted her arm.  
'It's okay. but, eh, we lost Leo.' Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'Well... Oh, there are Nico and Will!' She yelled. Percy and Calypso just saw the two run up a flight of stairs, which was covered in fake cobwebs.  
Leo was walking around the park. He had spotted a certain roller coaster, and now he wanted to do something with it. He had his toolbelt with him, like always, and he knew for a fact that he could make the rollercoaster more interesting than it currently was. He reached the rollercoaster (Okay, It was the Lost Gravity), and found the electricity box. He put out the electricity, and the cart stopped. He grinned, and ran past the line. Nobody even tried to stop him. The employees were all trying to get some technicians in there, so Leo could sneak right past them and into the control room.  
In the five minutes it took for the electricity to get back on, he edited the rollercoaster in such a way that it made an extra looping. He grinned, and slid out of the control room. He walked back onto the normal road, and ran straight into Piper, Jason and Sheila.  
Calypso and Percy followed Nico and Will up the stairs (The cobwebs had gotten to much for Annabeth, and she had said she would go find Leo). Upstairs, they looked around. 'I see a little bit of light, over there,' Calypso whispered. Percy nodded, and together they crept over to the ball of light. It came from behind a door. Percy took a deep breath and threw it open. 'GOTCHA!' he yelled. Someone yelled, and the light went out. Percy heard footsteps, and reached forward. He bumped into someone. 'Will, Nico, you can't hide from us...' just at that moment, the light went on again, and Percy looked straight into the eyes of a zombie-prop.  
He screamed the most girly scream he would ever scream, and jumped backwards. Behind him, he heard a few people laughing. He looked around, and saw Will, Nico and Calypso laugh like crazy. 'Percy, you should have seen your own face!' Nico yelled. Percy felt his cheeks flush, as he was helped up by Will (who was clearly the only nice person in the room). 'Yet, let's get out of here. Maybe we should find everybody?'  
'Sounds like a good idea!' Will agreed. Unfortunately, Calypso and Nico were to busy laughing. With the thought in his mind that they better find a large water attraction, and soon, for him to be happy, Percy pushed Nico outside (Will was doing the same with Calypso).  
'You edited that rollercoaster?' Jason said, with disbelief in his voice. Leo nodded.  
'It should be making a another looping.'  
'You can't just do that!'  
'But Jay-Jay, I did!' Leo said. He gave Jason two puppy dog eyes. Meanwhile, Piper and Sheila where trying to contain their laughter. Leo sighed. 'Well, it probably only works once anyways,' he said. Jason rolled his eyes.  
'Alright. Let's just watch it, then,' he mumbled. The four (demi)gods turned to the rollercoaster.  
'So, eh, the car is starting to ride,' Piper said, while holding Sheila's shoulders. Sheila nodded. 'And, it is going up... Hey, are that... Frank and Hazel?' Leo and Jason looked at the cart.  
'Ehm, Yeah! Leo agreed. 'That is Frank and Hazel.' He sounded less proud of his achievement then he had done before. Just as Jason looked like he wanted to yell at them all, the cart started to take speed, and it raced to the part where it should make an extra looping.  
Just then, Annabeth reached them. 'Hey! I found you guys! Oh, Hey Sheila. Say, Leo, where were yo...' before she could finish her sentence, the riding cart actually flew. It turned a perfect circle in the air, landed on the tracks again, and bolted further. Leo clapped in his hands. 'It worked! It actually worked!' Yet, then he made the mistake to look at Annabeth and Jason. They didn't look very happy. 'Leo, did you do something to the cart?' Annabeth asked. Leo shrugged. 'Maybe.' Annabeth narrowed her eyes.  
'Why did you do something with the cart?' She asked. Leo shrugged again.  
'I thought it would be cooler. I mean, it won't do it anymore, and the only people who go into the lost gravity are people who love rollercoasters anyway, so...' Annabeth grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer.  
'Do you have any idea how danger...'  
Leo was just realising he would be getting a very boring mom-lecture from Annabeth (and let's be real, probably also from Jason) when he was tackled from behind. 'Leo! Did you do that to the rollercoaster!? It was awesome!' Hazel yelled. Leo nodded enthusiastically. 'I did! Cool, right?'  
Frank shuffled close to the little group. He didn't really think that the extra looping was cool, and also he didn't feel very good. He had gone on three scary roller coasters, and he could confidently say that he didn't like it. He leaned on Hazel. 'I feel kind of dizzy.' Leo backed away.  
'Do you also feel nauseated?' Frank gave him an angry look.  
'No,' he answered (truthfully).  
Annabeth sighed. 'Hey, I know we have only been here for an hour or so, but maybe...'  
'An HOUR? I have been stuck inside that dang haunted mansion for an entire hour?' Someone yelled from behind. Annabeth just nodded. 'Yes, Percy. And what I wanted to say was that maybe we should all just go home.' Percy sighed dramatically. 'No. I haven't been on one crazy waterslide. I don't know what you guys are going to do, but I am going to go to the 'Sea-kingdom' and find the craziest waterslide that they have.' He turned around, and walked away. Annabeth turned to the entire group, consisting of Piper, Jason, Sheila, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Calypso, Will and Nico. 'They have food and rest places in the sea-kingdom. I don't think that is a bad idea. The entire group nodded, except for Sheila. 'I guess I have to find my sisters...'  
It really was like the fates were playing with them that day, because right at that moment (it's magic, do not question it) her two sisters arrived. 'Sheila! You have found it... oh, who are these people?' One of them said, while brushing through her hair with a blue comb she had gotten out of (basically) nowhere. The other one rolled her eyes. 'These are the seven heroes who defeated the giants, plus a few extra, Tara. Do you ever pay attention to anything?' 'Tara' patted her sisters shoulder. 'I'd rather say you try to pay attention to to much stuff, Alice. Since the Roman time.' While they went on with bickering, Sheila grabbed Annabeth's' hand. 'Let's go. Otherwise Tara won't shut up, and Alice will start a lecture about how dangerous that edited roller coaster was that would even put you and Jason to sleep.  
So they left, to the Sea-kingdom. When they arrived, Piper, Calypso, Leo and Jason immediately ordered a mega-portion of fish & chips, Sheila sat a little further of, fastly speaking into the microphone of her cellphone, Annabeth concluded that the fastest waterslide was the 'Octopus Shaker,' and Hazel and Frank sat down somewhere where Frank could rest for a bit. Piper was mindlessly playing with one of her fries. 'Say, do you guys like it in here? Because, you know, we arrived a bit late...' Leo coughed.  
'We arrived at five O'clock in the afternoon, and this park closes at seven.' Piper nodded.  
'Right. How about I charmspeak everyone who wants to kick us out, just so we can have the entire park to ourselves?' She asked, with a grin. Leo clapped in his hands. 'Great idea!' Calypso nodded, with a fry hanging from in-between her mouth. Jason looked like he might want to give another mom-lecture, but he sort-of nodded.  
That's the story of how a bunch of demigods (and one goddess) where hanging around in a theme park, hours after closing time. Even Frank was enjoying it. Percy was skipping next to Annabeth, as they stepped 'in line' to some attraction called 'the tunnel of love' (you guess what that is). 'You know, the fates might have been playing with us earlier, but I think that have paid us back!' Annabeth nodded, as they stepped into one of the boats.


	95. Just A Bit Of Compassion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy is having a difficult time. Annabeth gives him a shoulder to cry on.

Percy was slowly walking down the streets. He didn't know what it was, but something just didn't feel right the last few days. It wasn't just because of the six monster attacks the last two days, or Estelle crying in the middle of the night. He was used to that. His head and limbs were heavy and he felt stupid. While he had been in school, he couldn't seem to get any of the things his teachers asked him right. He walked past a few shops, but suddenly stopped when he saw a little alley. He knew walking through allies in New York wasn't desirable. The city wasn't exactly robber-or-murderer free. Yet, he knew this alley would be at least ten minutes shorter. He sighed deeply, gripped Riptide in his pocket, and decided to walk through it.  
The alley smelled bad, like a garbage dump. There were rats running around, and it did absolutely nothing to lift Percy's spirits. He started walking faster; his monster senses were going off, and he didn't know if that meant there were actual monsters or just bandits. He clutched Riptide, as he started running through the alley.  
After a few minutes, he tripped over a metal can and slammed face first into the concrete. He stayed down for a few seconds, and for some reason he felt like crying. He groaned and got up, only to see his books scattered over the floor. He bit his lip while he slowly started to pick them of the floor again. He pulled his backpack onto his shoulders, and walked further. For some reason, it felt like there was lead in his shoes.  
He just turned around the corner, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It immediately set off all of the warning bells in his head. He pulled his shoulder loose from the grip, and ran. His book bag was heavy and smacked his back, which hurt a great deal. The person caught up to him, and held him by his arm and the hinges of his backpack. 'Come on. I know you have money, kid. Give up.' Percy kicked him on the shin. He let go of Percy's arm, and Percy turned around and kicked the man in that one spot that hurts a lot, before running off, with his backpack still beating against his back.  
Percy breathed heavily as he stepped into his apartment building. He had ran all the way from the alley in which the strange man had tried to rob him to the building, and his already tired body didn't like that. He took the elevator to the right apartment - usually he would take the stairs, but he just couldn't do that today. He stepped out of the elevator, opened the right door, and dropped his backpack on the floor. It crashed onto the floor, and it was clear from the sound that something in there broke. He looked at the book bag, and suddenly his eyes felt hot. He felt like yelling.  
Yet, he didn't. That would upset Estelle, and he didn't want to make his baby sister cry. He stepped into the living room, and immediately realised that there was nobody there. There was a note lying on the table. He picked it up. 'Dear Percy,' It read, 'Today I am going to an extra class at the university. Paul has to work over. I brought Estelle to a baby-sitter. We'll be back at six P.M. Love, Mom.'  
Percy just stared at the notes for a while. After a few seconds, he tore it to shreds, threw it in the trash can and dropped onto the couch. He yelled loudly into a pillow, and felt a tear making its way down his cheek. He just laid on the couch, until he heard someone unlock the door. He sat up, not realising how ridiculous he looked. 'Mom? Paul?' he asked. Percy thought he was sounding childish. You could hear the sadness in his voice. 'Are you two there?' He whispered. Instead of his parents, Annabeth came walking into the living room (Sally had given her a key to the house, so she could get in whenever she wanted. She considered Annabeth part of the family, after all. And, I guess, technically she is, but we don't have time to get into the Olympian family tree. Not now, not Never).  
Annabeth had a big, goofy smile on her face while she walked in, but it immediatly vanished when she saw Percy in his teary-eyed stage. 'Percy? What is going on?' She asked, while making her way to the couch. She sat down next to him. Percy shrugged. 'I don't know.' Annabeth sighed, and got the pillow out of his hands. 'Come. I'll make you a cup of cocoa, and then you tell me exactly what has been going on in the last few days.'  
Annabeth put some extra blue food colouring in the chocolate milk, too. She handed it to her boyfriend. 'Here. Now, what has been going on?' Percy stared at his mug with blue chocolate milk. 'You start to sound like Chiron when someone is having a problem. You spend to much time with him.' Annabeth pursed her lips. 'That isn't answering my question.' Percy took a sip. 'There have been six monster attacks last two days, and Estelle has been crying through a huge portion of the night. After two weeks, my mother and Paul just needed some sleep, so I offered to take care of her during the nights. I haven't slept nice in seven days, and on top of that I am starting to believe that school is actually trying to kill me. And... I was almost robbed on the way home from school. I tried to get here faster, via a dirty alleyway, and he grabbed my arm... and I kicked him and just... ran.'  
He took another sip of cocoa. 'And I just don't feel very good, for no apparent reason. You make good cocoa.' Annabeth gave him a little smile. 'I know I do.' Her smile vanished again. 'Also, that isn't nothing, Percy. Far from it. Six monster attacks, No sleep and almost getting mugged? That is more than most teenagers have to deal with in an entire high-school carrier. It's to much for you, Percy. You need to take some rest.' Percy looked at her, and put his cup down on the coffee table. Nobody said anything for a few seconds. Annabeth raised her hand to touch his arm, but Percy suddenly burst into tears.  
Annabeth pulled her arm back, but after a few seconds put them around his shoulders again. Percy laid his head onto her shoulder. 'I just... don't...' he sobber loudly, and put his arms around her waist. Annabeth stroked his back.  
'It's alright, Percy. Just let it all out.' Percy pulled her against his chest. Annabeth pushed a kiss onto his shoulder.  
After five minutes, Percy took a deep, shaky breath, and he stopped crying. 'Annabeth, just...' he sniffed, and let out a soft sob. Annabeth pushed a tear from his eyes with her thumb. 'Don't worry Percy. Everybody has those days.' Percy nodded, clearly not very convinced. He picked up his mug again. He wanted to take a sip, but stopped when he saw which mug he was holding: one with a colorful reef printed on it. He smiled, while a single lost tear ran down his face. He wiped it away, while saying: 'you know... my mom got this mug for me when I was about seven. I saw it at Target, and immediately loved it, but she said we couldn't get it. I was pretty disappointed, but didn't complain. A few days later, Gabe had gotten drunk, and he had hit me.'  
A tear slid down Percy's cheek again, as he paused. 'The next day, she gave me the mug. It made me feel good, as if it was something Gabe couldn't touch. Ridiculous, of course, he could have destroyed it whenever he wanted. But from then on, it was my good-luck mug. I used to drink cocoa from it whenever I felt bad, because it felt better.' He smiled as he stared at the mug, and took a long sip of chocolate milk. Annabeth smiled. Suddenly, she felt like she could use a tissue as well. 'That's cute. And amazing.' Percy nodded.  
Annabeth got up from the couch, and stretched. 'Let's just watch a nice, sappy movie. I am feeling like that after this.' Percy nodded slowly. 'Me too. I'll grab a snack.' Annabeth looked through the DVD-collection. She chose a film, put it in the DVD-player, and then disappeared to the bathroom to get a washcloth. Meanwhile, Percy walked back into the living room with a plate of nacho's (they were a little blue). He sat down, and looked at the television. He sighed. 'Annabeth? West Side Story? How old is that one?' Annabeth came back with a washcloth.  
'Incredibly old. And I love it.' Percy sunk down into the pillows on the couch. He cleaned his face with the washcloth, and brought it back to the bathroom. As Annabeth grabbed a small pile of blankets and got comfortable on the couch. She kicked of her shoes. Percy came back with comfortable clothes - a t-shirt and flannel pyjama pants. He cuddled next to Annabeth, who reached out of the blanket to get the remote control to put the movie on. After that, she laid her head on Percy's chest. 'Do you feel a little better now?' She asked, before switching on the movie.  
Percy nodded. 'Yeah. I guess I'll take the roads with more people. There are less monsters and robbers there.' Annabeth nodded. 'Also, you should put up a schedule with your parents, maybe. Then you can share taking care of Estelle and you will all get enough rest.' Percy sighed deeply.  
'Yes. I'll talk to them about it once they get back.' He kissed Annabeth's' head. 'Now let's watch West Side Story.'  
That afternoon, when Sally and Paul arrived back home, with Estelle in her buggy, they found two teenagers asleep on the couch, cuddled into a blanket, with the menu of West Side Story still standing open. Sally stroked Percy's cheek, as she readjusted the blankets. She dimmed the lights in the living room and put out the television. She walked into the Kitchen, where Paul had already started to make dinner. She stretched. 'You know, Percy can praise himself lucky with Annabeth. She is a very sweet girl.' Paul nodded.  
'I know, I know. She can make good chocolate milk on top of that.'


	96. Mission Objective: Fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a sale on a very coveted lipstick. Drew is determined to get it.

Drew stepped into her vehicle. She was ready for this. She had build an entire plan, with which she could obtain what she wanted. A girl from the Ares cabin was sitting next to her. A boy from the Athena cabin was sitting in the back. Drew put her mobile phone in the holder. 'Alright. Ilana, Arron, we have a goal.' Her companions nodded, both looking ridiculously serious. Drew opened google maps. 'We are going to drive to Manhattan, to their most infamous makeup store. There, we will find the much coveted limited edition cherry-pearl-cinnamon-dash-shiny red lipstick. We need to get it, and drive back to camp, without Chiron noticing, because he thought it was useless.' Ilana raised her eyebrows.  
'It isn't useless. We need it. I mean, Aphrodite herself asked to get it for her, and then we could buy it for ourselves as well.' Drew nodded.  
'I know, I know. It is basically a queeste. I am sorry, mother, but it is ridiculous that you won't just get us to the store.' She threw her dark hair to her back. 'Guys, we might face monsters, but we can finish our task!' The three demigods let out a warcry, as they drove out of Camp Half-blood and onto the road to the much coveted limited edition cherry-pearl-cinnamon-dash shiny red lipstick.  
'Drew, we are running out of fuel,' Arron remarked. Drew bit her lip, and gave her Phone to Ilana. 'Ilana, will you look up where the closest gas station is?' She asked. Ilana started typing on the Phone like this was a case of life and death (Which it kind of was, because Aphrodite told them to do it). 'There is one just outside New York.' Drew hit the gas pedal.  
'We'll go to that first.' The other two gave a quick nod.  
'Understood, Milady,' Aaron said. In response, he got a very dirty look from Drew, who did another hair flip.  
They reached the gas station just in time. Ilana got out to throw more fuel into the tank, Aaron stepped into the shop to buy a few sandwiches and drinks and Drew stayed behind to check the route on her iPhone. Of course, that didn't take long, and after she was done she decided to apply her eyeshadow. She looked into her hand mirror. When she tried to see if she truly didn't miss a spot, she suddenly saw a woman sitting next to her. She looked next to her, and saw her mother sitting next to her.  
'Mom! What are you doing here?' Aphrodite smiled her most charming smile. 'Your lovely little friends got inside, sweetheart. Now, how is the quest going along?' Drew rolled her eyes. She was slightly jealous of her mother's' looks - that is the effect that she had on people who were not attracted to girls, or her own children. 'It's fine. We just need to get gas and food.' Aphrodite nodded her head. 'Good, good.' She winked.  
Ilana and Aaron walked out of the store and back to the car, loaded with sandwiches and drinks. When they got close to Drew's' car, they noticed the love goddess sitting next to her. Both demigods immediately blushed as red as a tomato. They got into the back of the car, without saying anything. Aphrodite turned around, and gave the new kids the most charming smile they had ever seen (Aphrodite was going for a 'casual smile'). 'Sweethearts, is everything going alright?' Ilana nodded somewhat. Aaron made eye contact with Drew, who looked at him so furiously that he snapped back to reality. 'Lady Aphrodite, sorry, but we have to continue. Chiron might notice, and if he notices it isn't long until Dionysus notices, and then we will be hauled back to camp.'  
Aphrodite nodded. 'Yes, Yes, of course. Don't worry about your campleaders, though. I will make sure they cannot haul you back.' She stepped out of the car, and disappeared right then and there. Everyone in the car was silent for a few seconds. After those few seconds, Drew hit the gas pedal and drove of. 'Alright. Back on the road.' Aaron coughed.  
'Drew, I think Aphrodite meant it when she said that she will keep Chiron and Mr. D busy.' Ilana rolled her eyes. 'Arron, we know, but we are talking about a limited edition lipstick here. We have to be early.' Arron shook his head.  
'Of course, of course.' Drew stared out of the front window (Like one is supposed to do when you drive). Ilana and Aaron kept babbling about something, while Drew stayed silent. After twenty minutes, she said: 'Guys, do you two see the hydra in the back mirror to?' Aaron and Ilana subtly turned around. 'Yes,' Ilana answered. 'Let's destroy it, once and for all.'  
Ilana leaned forward, and tried to reach her sword, which was laying on the floor of the front seat. Drew pushed her back. 'Sit down, Ilana! I'll give it to you once we can't flee anymore!' Ilana growled. 'Sure. Then it will be to late.' Aaron and Drew didn't react to that. Drew hit the gas pedal even harder. Luckily, the road was pretty much empty - the only problem is that they were coming close to New York City, and soon they wouldn't be able to drive as hard as they currently were.  
After ten minutes, they were stuck in traffic, and the Hydra was slowly walking closer to them. Drew sighed and threw Ilana's sword to her. They heard someone honk behind them. Drew drove forward. 'Yes, Yes, of course, you stupid...' (The string of swear words that came out of her mouth can't be mentioned here, because you might get cursed and then a magical force will come directly out of your keyboard). Ilana grabbed her sword and turned around. Arron grabbed her wrist. 'Ilana! You can't cut of the heads! Don't you remember the myths?'  
Ilana looked like she might cut of his head. 'I know, bookface.' Aaron opened his mouth to say something snippy back, but at that moment Drew violently turned around. 'Shut up! I am stuck in New York traffic and there is a monster chasing us! Banter is the last thing I want to hear right now! Kiss somewhere else, will you two?' She turned around, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Ilana and Aaron opened their mouths to say something very snippy and not really kind to Drew, but they also couldn't do that, because the Hydra had reached them and was spitting acid at the car.  
Immediately, the glass melted away. The demigods didn't wait, but all jumped out the car, directly into the busy traffic. They started running past the cars. 'Um, This is illegal and pretty dangerous, guys,' Arron yelled.  
'We know, smartypants! Just keep running or that Hydra will kill us!' Ilana yelled. Her sword was waving around dangerously close to Drew and Aaron's' arms. People honked everywhere beside them, which didn't really help. 'Is there anything we can do about the situation?' Drew yelled. Arron started to dig in his pockets.  
'I think I might have a drachma to get the taxi of the Grey Sisters.'  
'Well, get it right over here or that drachma is not going to be of much use, ever!'  
Arron dug the Drachma out of his pocket. The hydra was coming after them, jumping on cars and spitting venom. 'How do the mortals not notice his?' Drew asked. Ilana and Aaron didn't answer - they didn't have the time. Aaron threw the drachma on the floor, and the taxi appeared out of nowhere. Aaron and Drew quickly got inside. 'Come on, Ilana,' Drew said as she pulled the daughter of Ares into the taxi. 'I will splice through your heart! She roared at the Hydra, before Arron slammed the door shut in her face.  
One of the gray sisters (who had the eyeball) turned around. 'So, pretties, where should we take you?' She asked. She smiled wide, which is creepy for someone without teeth. Drew winced, and did her best not to yelp. Arron just stared at her, with his mouth open. Ilana answered: 'The Makeup store on twenty-second.' The grey sisters nodded.  
'I assume that you want to evade the Hydra?' She asked. They all nodded. 'Alrighty then!' One of her sisters smacked the gaspedal, and they sped away.  
It took five minutes to get to twenty-second; way quicker than Drew could have ever got them there. They sprinted into the make-up store, and looked around. Not for long, mind - there was an entire aisle, just filled with the new cherry-pearl-cinnamon-dash-shiny red lipstick. Drew took a deep breath. Arron stared at the aisle. 'There are a few hundred of them. I know that this is the only store that has them and all, but why didn't Aphrodite just get them herself?' Drew and Ilana shook their heads. 'No idea,' Ilana said. She sounded pretty angry about it - daughter of Ares and all.  
After a lot of trouble, they got home with four lipsticks. Aphrodite had promised that no-one would notice, and luckily she had been right. The goddess had stood at the side of the camp, ready to get her lipstick. They had handed it over, and after that they all left to their own cabins with their new lipsticks.  
Drew looked into the mirror while applying her new lipstick. She smiled. Yeah, it had really been worth it. She looked great in that shade of lipstick. She turned around, and saw that her sister Piper came into the cabin. 'Hey Drew! Where have you been all day?' She asked. Drew couldn't say anything. Look, she was tired, and annoyed with her mom, and her clothes were pretty messy. She didn't feel so great. 'Pip... Piper? What are you...' She sunk to the ground, and started crying. Piper quickly walked away. She didn't know Drew would be so dramatic about her crocks.


	97. Take Your Sister To The Snackbar Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason takes Thalia to the snackbar for some catching up.

'Thalia, you made this up. There is no way that you didn't,' Jason said as he was being dragged through the streets of Boston. 'Also, why did we have to go to Boston for… take-your-sister-to-the-snackbar-day?' He asked (he had to agree that he sounded 'a little' whiny). Thalia rolled her eyes. 'It doesn't matter that I made it up, and we are in Boston because that is where I was close to.' Jason stared at her. Thal, I drove for three hours to get to this place, and you know that, because you were in the car!' Thalia shrugged, and stopped speed walking. She put her hand to her brothers face. 'Jason, don't you want to spend some time with your big sister? I had to beg Artemis to let me go for three weeks straight!' She gave him her saddest puppy-dog eyes. Jason gave in. 'Alright, but the restaurant you picked better be good.'  
'Really?'  
'Yes, Jason, Really.'  
'Thalia, you could have chosen any restaurant in this huge city, and you picked an ordinary burger restaurant.'  
'Well, yeah, I like burgers.'  
'What about the millions of places in New York that sell burgers.' Thalia rolled her eyes again.  
'That would have been boring.' She started pushing Jason into the restaurant. 'Come on. I have something cool to show you, and I here no-one will care. I swear it isn't something dumb.' Jason wasn't so sure about that (the last time she had shown him something it had been a furby), but he let himself be pushed into the restaurant.  
They ordered burgers, and there was finally something they could agree on: a big amount of burgers is not enough. They ordered about three burgers each, with salads, and a big bottle of Dr. Pepper. As they put their trays down on a table, Jason looked at his sister and said: 'I don't think I would be half as hungry if I wasn't a demigod. Really, this stuff increases your appetite by about three hundred percent.' Thalia nodded.  
'I wholeheartedly agree with that. The hunters also seem to eat everything that comes in their way. This one time, a girl ate an entire jumbo-bag of marshmallows which was meant for all of us. It was crazy!'  
Jason laughed. 'Well, that still sounds like kind of lot, even for a demigod. Or, a hunter. Yet, how is life without boys?'  
'It's fine. I don't really miss them, except for you of course, Jay Jay.' She got a concerned look on her face. 'You know, when I first heard that you were dead, I... I just felt numb. I mean, I had just gotten you back a year prior, and you were already gone. After a few hours, I started crying, and no-one could really stop me. I... I just... I love you, Jason.' She got up from her chair, and hugged him.  
Jason put a hand on her back. Thanks, but eh... I am alive, Thal,' he said. He knew it sounded stupid, but he really didn't know what to say to his sisters' speech. Thalia laughed. 'I know, Jason, I know.' She let him go, and sat down. She took a bite the size of Earth out of her burger, and chewed obnoxiously. Jason took a very small bite out of his burger.  
'You know, the longer that I am together with Piper, the more I start to get a distaste for these things,' he said. Thalia swallowed an amount of burger than humans should not be able to swallow without choking. 'Weird. Luckily, I am literally around the goddess of the hunt for most of my time, so I do not have that problem.' She gave him a sassy smile. Jason rolled his eyes so far back that he saw stars.  
'I miss you sometimes, Thalia. Like, sometimes I am walking around camp, and I just want to see you. Maybe we should do things like this more often. Yet, like, not in Boston. In a fast food restaurant.' Thalia nodded slowly.  
'Sometimes I miss you to. I'd like to see you more often too, but Artemis doesn't really understand that. I can't blame her. I wouldn't want to see my brother all the time if he was Apollo too. And what's wrong with fast food in Boston? Are you to good for that these days?' She raised her eyebrow.  
Jason took a long sip from his glass. He (carefully) put it down afterwards. 'Thalia, I don't want to alarm you, but Apollo is our brother.' Thalia stopped halfway to taking another bite of the last burger. She put it down. 'Oh, gods. You are right.' The siblings looked at each other. 'Do you think we can still change our Godly parent?' Thalia asked. They both started laughing.   
'I think we should have done that a few years ago,' Jason sighed. Thalia nodded.  
'Would you have done it, Jay-Jay?'  
'What? Take another divine parent if I could?'  
'Yeah.' Jason took a bite.   
'I don't know, Thals. Maybe. I mean, having the king of the heavens as your father isn't really fun. I guess Demeter would have been a nice parent to have, or something.' Thalia nodded.  
'I agree. I guess I would have chosen to just be a mortal girl, so I can still join the hunt but I don't have to deal with all that other stuff.' Thalia's stopped smiling while she took the last bite of her burger. 'Than we could have been brother and sister some more.' Jason took the last sip of Dr. Pepper. 'Wow. That got really sad.' They didn't say anything, as they stood up and got out of the restaurant, onto the Boston Streets, back to the minibus that actually belonged to Camp Half-blood.  
Before they got into the minibus, Jason hugged Thalia. 'We could become more... brother-and-sister-ry.' Thalia nodded.  
'I don't think that's a word, though,' she said, as she sat down on the passenger seat. 'But I'll alarm you when it is take-your-brother-to-eat-a-donut-day.' Jason laughed.   
'You better actually do that, Thalia. Because now I really feel like eating a nice, glazed donut, you know.'


	98. Aphrodite Ships It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite decides to quickly visit Camp Half-blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's the hundredth Chapter *sparkles.* But, I was thinking that maybe I should write more one-shots in another book, because there are a lot of chapters like this. What are your thoughts?

Aphrodite twirled a lock of hair around her finger. She sighed deeply. She picked one of her romance novels from the floor, and flicked through it. She rolled her eyes and threw the book across her room. It hit her vanity table (The one she had in her room, which had only her favourite makeup and jewelry on it, like a pearl Earring that had once belonged to her daughter Marie-Antoinette), and the neatly displayed lipsticks, bracelets, rings, eye-shadow and a hundred other kinds of pretty stuff fell on the floor. Aphrodite sighed, and stuffed her face into her pillows. Maybe I should go pay camp Half-blood a visit, she thought. There is probably something entertaining there.   
'Aglaia! Ag-lai-a!' She yelled. The girl came running into her room.  
'Yes, what is it, maam?' She asked. Aphrodite stood up.   
'I am going to go see my children in camp Half-blood. I would like to see that my vanity table is completely cleaned up again once I come back, and I want my outfit for tomorrow to be put down on that blue chair in my bathroom on the first floor. Something with that long, green dress please, just throw something together. Aphrodite strided out of her palace, leaving her poor handmaiden wondering which long, green dress she meant and which bathroom on the first floor with a blue chair she meant.   
Aphrodite was staring into her closet with coats. She picked a long, black-brown coat, which went good with the clothes she was wearing and her current hair color. She stepped out of her palace, and down the stairs, to the main square. As Always, Gods and Goddesses stared at her (Hard life, I know). Instead of taking the elevator, she teleported herself to camp Half-blood. She appeared right in the middle of the main room of the Big House.  
Chiron and Dionysus were inside the main room of the Big House, and they looked extremely surprised to see the goddess just appearing in the Big House. Dionysus turned his head away from her. Chiron shook his head. 'Welcome, lady Aphrodite, is there a reason you just appeared in our living room?' Aphrodite flipped her hair onto her back.   
'Oh, I just wanted to see my children. Sorry if I interrupted your work!' Aphrodite pranced out of the main room, and walked onto the camp grounds. Dionysus and Chiron were so mesmerised by the goddess of love that they didn't even think about the fact that Aphrodite walking around camp will have... not exactly the best consequences for the camp.  
Aphrodite walked over to her own cabin. She softly knocked on the door, but didn't wait for an answer. 'Hello, sweeties!' she called out. The six children that were in the cabin looked over. Lacy let out a yelp, but nobody else said made a sound. They all just stared at their mother, like rabbits staring at the headlights of an approaching car.   
After way to many seconds for everything to still be comfortable, Piper shook her head. 'Hello... Mother. What gives us the honour?' she asked, with a slightly sarcastic undertone in the word 'Honour.' Aphrodite either didn't notice or acted like she didn't notice it (Probably the last one, though). She shrugged. 'I just felt like it, Sweethearts. Now, can one of you show me around your lovely little camp? It has been so long since I last saw it!'   
You could hear the heartbeat of a mouse, that's how silent it became. Lacy slowly raised her hand. 'I'll come along, mother.' She walked over to the door, but before the two women left the building, Piper jumped up. 'I'll come along, too.' She ran past Lacy and her mum, and jumped down the veranda that laid before the cabin.   
'Mother, what is your real reason for being here?' Piper immediately asked. Aphrodite waved at a few staring campers with a fan she got out of nowhere. 'Do you suspect that I have ulterior motives, Piper, dear?' She asked. She didn't look at Piper, but there was something in her tone that made Piper realise that it wasn't supposed to be a joke. She looked at her feet. 'Well, no, of course not, mother. Ehm, do you wish to see something in particular?' she asked. She heard Lacy swallow right next to her. Aphrodite flipped her hair over her shoulder. 'Hmm. I don't know. Do you know where your sweet boyfriend is hanging out?' She asked. Piper rolled her eyes, hopefully out of sight of her mother. 'The battle arena.'  
'Then we go there.'  
They walked over to the battle arena. Children left and right were gawking at the goddess. Meanwhile, Chiron and Dionysus and somewhat agreed on a talk they could give Aphrodite, so she would hopefully get out. Aphrodite reached the arena, with her children walking in front of her. Piper and Lacy tried to walk further, to the sword fighters, but the goddess of love stayed. She looked over the training campers. As by magic (It probably really was magic) all of the training campers stopped training, and turned around. They stared at the goddess.   
Piper couldn't help but role her eyes. Leave it to her mother to steal the show no matter what. She and Lacy waited for her. Aphrodite flipped her hair over her shoulder. She put her hands on her hips, and started to walk past the crews. They were all standing there, with their weapons in their hands. Aphrodite clapped in her hands. 'Come on, darlings, go on,' she said. The enchantment broke, and slowly the campers started returning to their daily training.  
Aphrodite stopped next to a girl from the Ares cabin. She was trying to cut down a strawman, but it didn't go very well. 'Go for the left side of it's neck,' she whispered. The Ares girl shot her a cynical look, but she tried it anyway; the strawman immediately fell apart. The girl looked at Aphrodite with big eyes. 'How?..'   
'The straws were hanging lose in that part. It won't work on humans, but for strawmans...' She smacked her lips, and walked away, leaving the Girl from the Ares cabin completely confused. The goddess trodded over to Piper, who was talking to Jason. Lacy was already looking at the archers. Aphrodite put her hand on Pipers shoulder. Both Jason and Piper stared at her. 'I am sorry, am I ruining something? I'll just walk on over.' She softly tapped Jason's' shoulder, and pranced away.  
Piper stared at her mum walking away. She rolled her eyes, while turning to Jason. When she looked straight into his eyes, she suddenly realised how cute she was. 'Eh... oh. Say, want to get ice cream somewhere?' she asked. Jason dropped his weapon.  
'Sure. Let's go.'  
Aphrodite giggled. Lovey-dovey couples were absolutely the best. She tapped Lacy on her shoulder. 'Lacy dear, let's continue the tour, shall we?' she said. Lacy nodded. Suddenly, Aphrodite grabbed her hand. Lacy almost froze, but realised that probably wasn't a good idea. 'Uh... mum... we, eh... we could see the strawberries?' She said. Aphrodite squeezed her hand. 'Sounds good, dearie.'  
They reached the strawberry fields, were the Demeter and Hermes cabin were picking strawberries. Aphrodite stepped into the fields, with Lacy. They walked around for a bit, until Lacy felt that her mother started to get bored. She looked up. 'Want to see something else?' She asked. Aphrodite was looking around the field. 'Yes. This is kind of...' She stopped talking. Lacy raised her eyebrows, and followed her mother's' gaze. She suppressed a sigh. Oh. Travis and Katie. Of course.  
They didn't get along, but for some reason everyone had to agree that they looked ridiculously cute together - even Connor once said as much. Katie and Travis' opinion on the matter wasn't clear. They never said anything about their relationship, though, neither the bad or the good kind. And Aphrodite had apparently caught onto that. Lacy acted like she was busy with a few strawberries.   
Aphrodite shook her hair onto her back, again. She blowed a kiss at the two... demigods-whom's-relationship-we-do-not-know-but-we-do-not-assume-here. Immediately, they stopped squabbling over one of the baskets, and the field went completely quiet. They stood up, and even Lacy turned her head towards them. Slowly, they started talking. It looked so flirty, and yet nobody could pull their eyes away from it.  
Then, it started raining. Lacy took a deep breath. 'She really wants this to be as cliché as possible, right?' She muttered, as soft as possible. Aphrodite pulled her onto her legs. 'Come, Lacy, it's raining! Let's get back into that really Big House! Or is there anything else you guys do when it rains?' she asked. Lacy hobbeled along, to the Big House.   
'Eh, nothing. It doesn't rain. Our protective shield also has an in-build weather shield, so it only rains or snows when Dionysus wants to. Which is only in the night. Sometimes. For the fields.'   
'Oh, nice dear.' Aphrodite was looking at Katie and Travis, who were running away, but not to their cabins; they were hiding under some trees. Aphrodite giggled. So romantic! Her plan had worked!   
She and Lacy walked to the Big House. Inside, Chiron was looking at some papers - Dionysus was staring out of the window. 'The weather shield gave up. How is this possible?' he muttered. Aphrodite tapped him on the shoulder. 'Come on, Di, it was to get two of those kids together.' Dionysus shot her a dirty look, before looking away from the love goddess again. 'Stop it, Aphrodite. We aren't used to rain and it is only a matter of time before the first buildings start to collapse and we get mud flows.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes.   
'Alright, Alright.' She clapped in her hands. Before Chiron and Dionysus could say anything else, she looked at them and said: 'Now, I got to leave. I have to see if my handmaidens put down the right outfit. She winked, and disappeared in a cloud of make-up.   
Lacy let out a breath. Chiron couldn't help but laugh. 'She isn't an easy goddess, now is she?' Dionysus rolled his eyes. 'That is an understatement, Chiron.' Chiron didn't really answer to that; he had gotten used to his nephews' remarks. 'Do you want a cup of tea, Lacy?' he asked. Lacy nodded. 'Yeah. Yet, Chiron, do you think she was really bored or if she wanted to show us she had power? I mean, in the arena, she could tell someone what the weak point of a strawman was by pointing at it.' Chiron shrugged.   
'I don't know, Lacy,' he said, while putting a cup of earl grey in front of her.  
'Nobody knows anything for sure with Aphrodite,' Dionysus remarked. Chiron stared at him. 'This is the part where I want to remark that counts for most gods, Dio.'


	99. Stand-up Comedy To The Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stand-up comedy is deadly, we all know it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! This will be the last 'to the death' story in my one-shot book.

'This is the pinnacle of stupid things,' Alex whispered in Magnus' ear. Magnus looked at her.  
'Then why did you come?' He asked. Alex snickered.  
'I want to see where the 'to the death' comes from. Also, maybe there are one or two people who can crack decent jokes.' Magnus shrugged.  
'I guess you're right.' I looked at the flashcards in his hands. Alex stared at him in disbelieve. 'Magnus, are you really going to try to be funny? In front of the entire hotel? To the death?' she asked (She was wearing a bracelet that changed colour depending on what gender she was at that moment. Right now, she felt like a girl). Magnus nodded slowly. 'Eh, yeah?' the smile on Alex' face grew. 'Now I am really glad that I showed up.'  
They entered the auditorium. There were chairs and tables turned to the stage. Alex clapped in her hands. 'Oh, dinner and a show!' She said. She and Magnus took a table on the second row. There was still a curtain hanging in front of the stage, so the show hadn't started yet. After Alex and Magnus had been sitting at their table for five seconds, a waiter ran up to them. Alex' smile grew even wider. 'This is going to be great! and I want a hotdog with regular tub water, please!' Magnus ordered his food as well. It was brought to their table in five minutes flat, and after that the show begun.  
The presenter was the woman who else led the book club. Magnus made a little prayer to his father that nobody would have to fight if you didn't agree with one of the jokes being made. 'Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the sixth annual Stand-up comedy to the death Night!' She said into the microphone. Everyone in the room started cheering, which gave Magnus an uneasy feeling and made him think of living in the capital of Panem. The woman continued. 'My name is Aria, and I am glad to announce that our first comedian tonight is called... she looked at her card. 'Eh, I do not know... what? Oh... our first comedian is Maartje visser (all of you none-dutch folk who have to read this: I don't even know how one would say this in English, so good luck. 'Visser' means Fisherman, though. It is the most used Dutch surname), a dutch girl who died in 1989. Take the microphone!'  
Maartje walked onto the stage. She was blushing, and Magnus assumed that she hadn't thought that she had to go on first. Aria handed her the microphone. Maartjes' hands were shaking as she took it. She flipped through her flashcards. She took a deep breath. Alex tapped on the table with her fingers. 'Do you feel that, Magnus? The tension and the expectations are rising.' Magnus didn't feel so excited. He felt bad for the poor girl on the stage.  
'Hel-hello. As Aria already said, eh... I am Maartje Visser (Wait, that's how you pronounce it? Someone in the audience whispered to their partner) and I am here to make the most splashing jokes.' Magnus looked at Alex.  
'Did she really say that? What does 'splashing jokes' mean?' He asked. Alex shrugged.  
'Either it is a poorly translated Dutch saying, or she is going to throw water balloons at us.' Magnus desperately hoped it was the first one. Maartje continued: 'So, there was this chicken, and it walked over to a cow. So, the chicken said to this cow: "Well, you jumped over the stream with your high heels!" and the cow just looks at this chicken like: "what are you talking about? If you think I would let some chicken eat the cheese of my bread, you're wrong!" and the chicken goes: "I don't think you understand a ball of it, and...."'  
Alex tugged on Magnus sleeve. 'What is she going on about?' Magnus shook his head.  
'I have no idea, Alex, I promise I don't.' Meanwhile, Maartje was going on about having oatmeal in your legs and about roosters that crow early. 'Are these even jokes? What is this? Is this supposed to be funny?' Magnus asked. This time, Alex shook her head.  
'Magnus, my mind is just as foggy as yours.' At this point, Maartje started to realise how dumbfounded everyone was. She stopped with her 'Jokes.' 'Um, The joke is that I use as much proverbs as possible...' She trailed of, and got even redder than she was at the beginning. 'I'll just leave...' She said. She started to slowly walk away from the podium, and everyone watched as she left the room. 'Hey, nothing happened to her,' he whispered to Alex. Alex nodded slowly. 'Well, I don't know about you, but I would have felt pity for her if it did. I mean, she just doesn't speak English very well, and that's it.'  
The next contestant was a guy called Martin Guyson. He took the stage, and grabbed the microphone. 'I was at home with my bro, and suddenly my girlfriend is standing in the room. So, Of course, I brought her back to the kitchen. She told me that she wanted to stay in the living room. Yep, she is confused like that!' Martin said. He laughed about his own joke, and waited for a bit, so people could laugh. The sad thing is that nobody did (did I say sad? I meant utterly hilarious). Martin swallowed. 'Um, she also doesn't know how soccer works, so every time I have to explain to her that you have to kick the ball into the goal and not the audience...'  
'Martin, you do not have an SO,' someone yelled. Martin blushed.  
'Well, Eh... women, you know?' In response to that, someone threw a cup filled with coffee at the state. Someone else threw a rotten tomato. After a few minutes, nobody could see Martin anymore, because of the mountain of rotten fruit and vegetables. The organisers got the mountain of the stage. Martin was nowhere to be found, but nobody really cared. They would probably see him at dinner, or in his room or something.  
Aria got onto the stage again. 'Alright, after those two... disasters, the next comedian is Magnus Chase!' Magnus almost spat out his burger. Alex started laughing.  
'Hey, Magnus, if you get send back to your room, I'll put your food in a doggy bag and bring it over, okay?' Magnus stared at her.  
'That's extremely nice of you.' Alex tilted her head.  
'I know. Now get up there.'  
Magnus climbed up on the stage, with his flashcards. He took the microphone from Aria, and stared at his flashcards. He only had one joke he considered good, and he shouldn't screw this up. He wanted that piece of falafel right now, not in a few hours. 'Hello peeps!' He said. The crowd was silent. Magnus swallowed. 'So, what did you expect to get from this jokeshow this evening?' He asked. It stayed quiet for a little while, until Alex yelled:  
'I wanted to see people screw up their performances, and let me tell you, I have not been disappointed!' Magnus couldn't help it; he rolled his eyes. Of course Alex didn't hope for anything that was actually funny.  
Yet, some people echoed what Alex had just said. Some others joined in, until the entire auditorium had somewhat admitted to coming here to see people screw up. Even people that had flashcards with jokes written on them agreed. Magnus took a deep breath, and dropped all of his flashcards on the floor. The crowd went quiet again. 'Alright, in that case I am not even going to try. So, why did the chicken cross the road?' He asked. Some people raised their hands. Magnus located a woman who had beaten him at Yoga To The Death the day before, and pointed at her. 'Because the chicken wanted to get to the other side?' She asked.  
Magnus shook his head. 'He crossed the road to go and visit the ugly witch. Now, ma'am, would you mind answering to my knock-knock joke?' The woman shrugged.  
'Alright.'  
'Knock-knock.'  
'Who's there?'  
Magnus took a deep breath. 'The chicken,' he said. The auditorium went silent, as people tried to understand what he had just said. Magnus reached for Jack, who was hanging around his neck. 'Hey, Jack, I might need assistance soon,' he said. He heard mumbling, and took that as a sign that Jack understood what he meant.  
Alex was the first one to get it. 'Magnus, that is one of the worst jokes I have ever heard.' She jumped up, got her garotte out of seemingly nowhere, and sprinted up to the stage. At that point, more people understood the joke, and squared up to battle. The woman was one of them, and she got a long knife from next to her seat. Jack manifested, just in time to block Alex' garotte. 'Let's go, Magnus! This is going to be a tavern brawl!' Magnus wanted to point out that this wasn't a tavern, but decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea to anger Jack when he needed him. He jumped of the stage.  
'And then everyone turned on everyone, like people do in this hotel, and we fought through the most of them, but then someone got us both and we were send back to this place!' Alex said to the rest of floor nineteen. Mallory was laughing on the floor. 'This is story is definitely better than any joke that was told during that evening, ever,' TJ said. Magnus looked at Alex for a moment, but she violently shook her head. 'Don't even think about it, Magnus.'


	100. Hide and Seek (The Hydra)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hide and Seek in camp Halfblood gets dangerous when Nico lets a Hydra loose.

Piper hung upside-down in the top of a tree. In this position, someone on the ground wouldn't be able to see her, but she could see almost the entire camp; including Annabeth, who was pulling people out of their hiding places left and right. Even from the current distance, Piper could see that her smile grew bigger and bigger. Yet, she wouldn't get Piper, the daughter of Aphrodite would not let her. 'Why did Annabeth get like this? When did this happen?' She whispered.  
Well, it all started when Leo got the great idea to play hide-and-seek, with everyone who was in the camp at that point. Annabeth got voted to be the first seeker, and she had sixty minutes to find everyone, while the other campers had one-hundred seconds to hide (Leo had set up a timer to correctly measure the amount of time they still had. After one-hundred seconds, it started the one-hour timer for the seeker). Connor Stoll had asked how you would know if someone was tagged, and Leo had pulled a pack of stickers and a bottle with a weird fluid out of his pocket. 'You stick these on their arms. It doesn't let go unless you use this fluid, which I'll give to the seeker.'  
'Yet,' Piper thought, 'how could a simple game of hide-and-seek ruïn our good friend Annabeth so badly? Make her so heartless?' Piper took a deep breath, and sat right up on her branch again. Stars were flying around in front of her eyes. Ugh. Maybe she shouldn't hang upside down for so long. She looked through the leaves, and saw that Annabeth was making her way over to the forest, probably to systematically find every camper that was hidden there.  
Piper climbed down from her tree, and ran away. She knew there was another, higher tree somewhere, with enough leaves to hide behind. That was a good thing, because Annabeth was not a fan of tree climbing and she would only do it when she thought she couldn't do anything else. The bad thing was that a random, very small, very fat Hydra had somehow gotten into camp, and it was parading around at the roots of the tree.  
Piper facepalmed. 'Oh, which you of these fools brought a baby Hydra into camp and spoiled it with treats?' She thought. She knew Annabeth could be behind her every moment now, so she had to act quick: either attack the small, fat Hydra or seek another tree. She shrugged, pulled out Katropis and charged at the Hydra. When she got into a six metre radius of it, she expected it to charge, but it didn't. The hydra just kept chewing on a leaf. When it was so close, that Piper could easily kill it, she hesitated. It was so small. And so round. It was pretty cute, even. She sighed, put away Katropris and stepped onto the first branch. The Hydra still didn't attack. Piper climbed onto another branch. The hydra was still not interested.  
Piper was relaxing on one of the highest branches of the tree. She knew she was out of sight of Annabeth, and the chance that the daughter of Athena would pick this one specific tree to climb when she would inevitably come to the conclusion that Piper was somewhere in a tree was very small. She smiled, and laid her head against the trunk.   
She even started to doze of a little, until she heard something cough. Her smile vanished. It wasn't a humanly cough. She started to climb down the tree as quickly as possible. She was standing on the third lowest branch when she the Hydra coughed venom onto the tree trunk. It started to disintegrate really quickly. She jumped down, a little to fast. Her ankle twisted, and she yelped. Behind her, she heard something like a scream. When she turned around, she saw that the little Hydra waddled behind the disappearing tree.   
Annabeth came rushing to where she was laying on the floor. Piper let out a yelp, and Annabeth stuck a sticker on her arm. After she did that, she looked at Piper's' face. She looked like she was into a lot of pain (Because she was and all). 'Pipes? What is wrong?' She knelt down next to her. Piper looked at the little bit of tree stumps that was still there. 'This might sound weird, but there was a big tree on the place of that stump. A... very small, and very round Hydra coughed venom onto it, and then I jumped down. I think I broke my ankle.'  
Annabeth put out her jacket, and put it under Pipers' leg. 'Anybody! Get out of your hiding spot! We have an emergency, I swear it on the gods!' she yelled. It stayed silent for a little while, but then Nico shadow-travelled out of nowhere. 'What is going on?'   
'Piper broke her ankle. I am going to get an Apollo camper to look at it. You have to stay here with her, and there was a Hydra.' She got back to her feet.   
'Wait! Will you please get that Meg girl?' Someone asked. Annabeth turned around. A dryad was sitting next to the tree stump. Instead of green, her skin was white. 'I'll survive for another twenty minutes, don't worry.' She sounded so relaxed, that Annabeth asked no more questions. She ran away. Nico turned to Piper.   
'Was it a very small and very fat baby-hydra?' he asked. His eyes turned away from her. Piper nodded. 'Yup.' She raised her eyebrow. Nico gave her his largest puppy-dog eyes.   
'Um, I found it somewhere in New York. It was so cute. I wanted to keep it in my cabin, but he escaped, I guess...'  
They heard another cough, and the Hydra came waddling back to the tree stump. Nico stuck out his arms, and the Hydra waddled into them. Nico got a very fatherly expression on his face. 'He is sick! Poor thing!' Piper looked at it.   
'What do we do with sick Hydra's?'  
'Maybe keep them out of the forest, so they don't destroy trees?' the dryad chimed in. Her skin was losing more and more colour, but she was still completely chill. 'Um, shouldn't you be, you know, a tat worried?' Nico asked. The dryad shrugged.  
'No. My tree almost burned down once, and the Meg girl helped me. It also once got cut down, and Meg helped me again. If she comes here within twenty minutes, which I believe is possible, I'll be fine. And struggling will only make my tree die sooner.' Piper and Nico looked at each other. It was a little surreal.  
Annabeth came running back, with Meg and an Apollo child. The dryad waved at Meg, who started to use her magic to heal the tree. The child of Apollo kneeled next to Piper. He softly touched her ankle. Piper did not like the look he got onto his face. 'Hm. It's not good. Annabeth, please get me the brancard?'   
Twenty minutes later, Piper was laying in the infirmary with her ankle in plaster and a small piece of Ambrosia to chew on. Nico was sitting on the side of her bed, with a juice carton and the Hydra in his lap. Piper looked at the hydra. 'I don't think Chiron will let you keep that. I mean, the Dionysus kids had to bring away their regular house cat, I don't think that Hydra's are allowed.' Nico pulled the Hydra closer.  
'I know. I think I might bring him to the Underworld. My demiamigo's over there will probably like him.' Piper raised her eyebrows.  
You have friends in the underworld... that are dead, or alive?..'   
'Dead. You probably heard of Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf, right? They and two more. They'll adore Fred!' Piper laughed.  
'You called him Fred?' Nico nodded, as he took another sip of orange juice. Meg slowly walked into the infirmary. 'I healed the tree,' she announced. She also sat down at the foot of Pipers' bed. Will came rushing around the corner, with a juice box. 'Here's Apple Juice. Also, Meg, how often have you healed that tree?' Meg pushed the straw into her juice box, and took a sip.   
'About three times. The first times the tree wasn't so badly hurt, not like this time. She isn't the high tree that she was before, but a sapling.' Meg took another sip of apple juice. Piper yawned; she was tired, which wasn't weird. Will pushed Meg and Nico off her bed. 'Go get some sleep, Piper.'   
At that moment, Travis came sprinting into the infirmary. He jumped over the beds, and accidently knocked over a small shelf. Will screamed. 'Travis! Get out! There is no-one hidden here!' Travis looked over.   
'Sorry Will!' He stormed out again. Will looked like he wanted to cry. Nico put Fred on the bed, and begun to pick up the things on the floor. Piper yawned, and sunk into her pillows. 'I think I'll pass the next time we play hide & Seek.' Will nodded.  
'Me too,' he muttered as he grabbed Fred and forced him to swallow cough drops.   
(That night, Piper had to stay in the infirmary. Fred, who was healed from his terrible coughing disease with the help of cough drops (And just the tiniest bit of Ambrosia) cuddled up next to her, not even being angry as Piper used him as a teddy bear.


	101. Sleepover At Nico's Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sleepover in the Underworld can take more turns than expected.

Nico walked through the hallways of Hades' Palace, in his pyjamas and soft panda-slippers. He was walking over to his room; he was going to have a slumber party with his underground buddies. He was holding a few large boxes with nerds, and a multi-bag of salt popcorn. As he passed the dining room, he heard Hades and Persephone talking to each other. It sounded like they were having an argument. Of course, Nico could walk further. He really could. Yet, he laid ear against the door.  
'They are all here! It is only etiquette if we invite them over to dinner!' He heard Persephone say.  
'Those kids probably just want to eat mountains of sugar. I saw the multipacks of candy in the basement.'  
'Hades, that is so unhealthy. They are still kids. We need to make sure they eat healthy.'  
'You sound like your mother. What should we even feed these kids?' Nico heard his stepmother sigh.  
'We can let the cook make something?'  
'Well, what about the mortal boy? He can't eat the food!'  
It stayed quiet for a while. Nico decided that Persephone was probably thinking, and sneaked away before she could come back with some sort of answer that would immediately pull his dad over to her side. He ran to his room; better eat as much candy as possible, until Persephone pulled out of the boxes of 'Demeter's ultra healthy granola bars.'  
He entered his bedroom, which was pretty big; or, at least, big enough for a television, a nice bed, five mattresses, and a mountain of stuff that was going to dissolve their teeth. Silena turned around. 'Is that salty popcorn?' Her face lit up. Nico nodded. 'Yes. I also got sweet.' The other three dead people (Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher and Castor) all smiled widely. Will, on the other hand, had a more concerned expression on his (according to Nico) perfect face. 'Is all that sugar good for us? I mean, we are still growing! Maybe you should get some fruit.' Nico rolled his eyes.  
'William, you are invited to steal fruit of Persephone's' garden and face the consequences.' Will mumbled something about 'no care for their health' as he grabbed a M&M from the nearby bowl.  
Nico pulled open the drawer on his nightstand, and pulled out the very first edition of Just Dance. 'No way!' Beckendorf called out. The others started cheering. 'Silena, I hereby challenge you to Wannabe from the Spice Girls!' Castor said. 'Prepare to lose, then! I got all of the steps memorised!' Silena answered, as she jumped up. Nico put the disc into his Wii, which he brought along from the Hades cabin. 'We have four controllers, and enough room for three people to comfortably move around. So, which four of his are going to play first? Besides Castor and Silena.' Will and Lee jumped up. Nico gave them the controller. 'Cool. Now I am going to sit next to Beckendorf over here, and we are going to watch the four of you bounce around.'  
Before they started Wannabe, will looked over his shoulder. 'Neeks, are you really not going to do anything? Because I think you would look gorgeous while dancing on Hot 'N Cold...' Nico shook his head.  
'No.'  
'Please?' Will pouted. Nico felt his heart grow weak.  
'...maybe... juststartokay!' Nico stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth after saying the last bit. Will clapped in his hand, while Silena started the song.  
After twenty seconds of playing, Will and Lee started to fall behind on Silena and Castor. 'How are you so good?' Will puffed, as he stretched his arm out so far that he hit a vase with a few white lilies. 'We held competitions in the Aphrodite cabin,' was Silena's answer.  
'I did this with Pollux when we were bored,' Castor answered. The two turned a perfect pirouette. Lee started to play better, and did the dumb moves so good that he started to get closer to the scores of the other two. Will, on the other hand, fell backwards onto Nico's bed. 'I quit,' he muttered, as he inched over to Nico and cuddled up to him. He grabbed another hand of M&M's and stuffed them into his mouth.  
The three competitors did two more songs, cheered on by the other three. They just wanted to start with Womanizer, by Britney Spears (Just Dance is the definition of weird Pop Music) when they heard a knock on the door. Nico dramatically sighed. 'Yeah?' He called out.  
'Nico, will you and your guests kindly come over to the dining room?' He heard the voice of Persephone say. He knew there was no use arguing the gods. It was extremely tempting, but he sighed deeply. 'Alright. Sorry, guys, no more Just Dance.'  
The rest also got out of Nico's room without arguing. Persephone was waiting in the hallway. Nico's mouth fell open when he saw her. Usually, Persephone took great care of how she looked; nice dress, make-up done, hair brushed and probably done up by one of her maids. Right now, she was wearing a pink, fuzzy pyjama with matching slippers, she was wearing no make-up at all and her hair was loose. She smiled, and walked them all to the dining hall.  
Hades looked like his usual, 'I-am-the-boss-here-fear-me' clothes - at first sight. Under his robes, he was wearing a pair of fuzzy panda slippers. He was sitting at the head of the table with an expression that said: 'help-I-don't-know-how-she-talked-me-into-this.' Both the deceased demigods and the living demigods sat down at the table.  
For a while, nobody said anything as they waited for dinner, until Silena, who was sitting next to Persephone, pulled out a hairbrush. She looked at the goddess' hair. 'Um, can I...' she didn't even have to finish the sentence.  
'Of course, darling! I have elastic bands if you need them!' Silena's eyes lit up, as she started brushing through Persephone's' blonde hair. 'Thanks, lady Persephone.'  
Beckendorf grinned, and kissed Silena in her neck. 'Still a real daughter of Aphrodite, I presume.' Silena rolled her eyes.  
'I can like make-up and books at the same time.' She snapped her fingers. 'Beauty, brains or brongs? I'll take all of them, thank you!' Lee and Castor softly cheered, Will started laughing.  
At that moment, dinner was served. It looked really good - it was steak with baked potatoes and way to much vegetables to pick from. Oh, and some soup, to eat beforehand. Will wanted to sneak a bite of potato, but he hesitated. His expression darkened. 'Oh. I think I should go ahead and get the food that I brought in from the upper-world; a subway sandwich.'  
'Oh, right,' Persephone said. Hades rolled his eyes.  
'I told you this was a bad idea.' Persephone bit her lip.  
'What if we just let him go? I mean, you can just say that he can eat here and go away, and then he can eat here and go away.' Hades shook his head.  
'We can't make exceptions for anybody.' Nico gasped.  
'He's my boyfriend, dad! He isn't just "anybody!"' Hades held his face in his hands.  
'You know what? Do whatever you want. I am going back to my chambers.' He stood up, kissed Persephone on her hand and strided off.  
'He almost looks intimidating when he does that,' Castor remarked. Will thought that Hades looked very intimidating when he did that, but the rest seemed to agree with Castor. Will looked at the food. 'So, can I eat, or do I need to try and get my sandwich from my bag, with the chance that I'll run into Hades?' Persephone tapped him on the shoulder. 'You're allowed to eat. Make sure it isn't anything else than what is standing on this table or what you brought yourself.' Will realised that he was a Greek hero, so he'd probably accidentally take one piece of popcorn and be stuck here forever, but he'd think about that later.  
He cut off a small piece of steak, and put it in his mouth. It tasted... weird. Not gross (it was pretty delicious actually), but it didn't taste like anything Will had ever tasted in the living realm. When he looked up, he saw that the others had already eaten their way through half of their steaks. He started eating quicker, which made Persephone say: 'William... that's your name right? You don't have to gobble it all up in ten minutes, you know.' Will slowly moved a bite to his mouth, which made Lee chuckle (So some good came of it).   
When Silena finished eating (She finished last, because she had insisted on putting up Persephone's' hair all fancy, with flowers in it and a whole bunch of braids. Persephone clapped in her hands, and two ghosts came into the room to clean the tables. Nico started to get up.   
'Nico di Angelo, do you think the dinner is done already?' Nico sat down again.   
'I did, but now I think it might not be.' Persephone nodded slowly.  
'Right.' The door burst open again, and the servants came back with desserts. Castor and Lee cheered, Silena squeaked. Beckendorf nodded slowly. Nico looked surprised, and leaned closer to Will. He held his arm. 'Will! She has never done this before!' Will swallowed. It looked to good to be true... Oh, right, the no-eating thing.  
'Um, Lady Persephone, can I eat it? he asked. Persephone pursed her lips.   
'I don't know for sure. I would have to ask Hades for permission, and I don't think he'll agree. The fact that you could eat the Original dinner was already against the rules, and he is not much of a rule-breaker. But I can give you the recipe.' Will nodded.  
'Thanks, ma'am. If you all would excuse me, I am going to get my M&M's.' He walked away from the table, to get his M&M's.  
After the dessert, the demigods walked back to Nico's room again (Persephone went to Hades' chambers). Nico had both of his eyebrows raised. 'They've never done that before.' Will turned to him. 'She is pretty kind to you guys.' Nico shrugged.  
'Well, Persephone is not the person to hold a grudge, I guess. Also, she has grown close to Silena.' Silena pulled a cute face. Will held back a giggle. Nico sighed.  
'Yet, Going back to playing Just Dance is pretty boring, isn't it?' Lee took a deep breath.   
'Nico, you clearly have a plan.' Nico's eyes glistened.   
'I do.' He stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. 'About… ten months ago, I believe, The Stolls had the great idea to dye streaks into Dionysus and Percy's hair, for stupid reasons that I am not going to get into.' (Castor raised his eyebrows) 'They got used to it pretty quickly,' Nico continued, 'Yet, I don't think Hades will shake it off as quickly if we dye bubblegum pink streaks into his hair.' The ghostly teenagers cheered. Will looked shocked.  
'Wh-what? Isn't that dangerous? What if he blasts you all to Tartarus?' Nico pulled him into a hug. 'It's fine, Will. He might not show it, but he kind of actually started to accidently care about us. Literally, Dionysus and Chiron are harsher on us.' Will looked like he didn't really believe that. 'Hm. Well, you guys go do that. I'll see the result tomorrow.'  
The next morning, Hades woke up. His hair felt somehow different, and he noticed that it was spread out over the entire pillow. He jumped out of bed, and walked over to the bathroom. Those kids did something again, he thought. He flicked the lights on and stared into the mirror, only to see the gorgeous, new, pink, streaks in his hair. He held back a scream, and ran out of the bathroom again. The door flew against the wall of the bedroom. The hard sound made Persephone wake up.   
'What are you doing?' she asked, as she sat up straight.   
'Those brats dyed pink streaks into my hair!' he said, in a harder voice than he wanted to. Persephone had been stretching, and stopped in the middle of a stretch. She jumped out of bed, and reached for the light switch. When she saw Hades' beautiful pink streaks, she clapped in her hands. 'You know, they look pretty good. I am sure Silena has applied them!' Hades stared at her. 'They died my hair pink. As in, without my permission.' Persephone shrugged, and walked over to hug him. 'So?' Hades didn't even react to that, and walked out of the room.  
He strode through the palace in his pyjamas and fluffy slippers. He knocked hard on Nico's door. 'Nico di Angelo!' It took Nico a minute to open the door. He was wearing a robe and his white slippers. 'You also good morning, dad. What is going on?' Hades pointed at his head. 'What do you think I am here about?'   
Nico wondered if he should say 'I don't know, you tell me,' or just be polite. He decided on being polite. 'You aren't the only victim of this, dad,' he said. Hades begun to look even angrier.   
'You think that makes it alright?! what can I do about this?' Nico swallowed.   
'Well...' Silena jumped from behind the corner, and softly pushed Nico away.   
'Lord Hades! I could Always dye it back to black. Yet, Nico got the idea from the pranksters in camp,' (In the background, Nico gave her a sign that meant 'What in Tartarus are you doing?') 'and we thought Persephone would think it was cute.' Hades opened his mouth to say something, but then Castor and Lee jumped around the corner. 'Lord Hades! That looks pretty fancy!' Castor said.   
'It really compliments the black clothes!' Lee said. Hades sighed deeply.   
'You know what? All just go back to Elysium, and the upperworld. I don't care, just...' He held his head in his hands. At that moment, Will came out. 'Lord Hades? Is everything alright?' he asked. Hades peeked through his fingers. 'No.' Will patted him on his shoulder.  
'Well, I know it is annoying, but... it really does look good. And, trust me, the last two people it happened to got used to it extremely fast.' Hades took a deep breath.  
'William, you are the best person of this group.' He laughed. 'You kids are weird. Now, maybe William should get back to the upperworld for breakfast. Yet, 'dying peoples hair' will be written on the list of things that are not allowed, by punishment of being sent to the Fields Of Punishments.' he walked away.  
'That was hands-down the most interesting sleepover I have ever had,' Will said to Nico as they were putting Wills' stuff back into his cabin. Nico laughed. 'Sleepovers in the Underworld Always get kind of weird. Also, Hades isn't Always the victim of our pranks. Most of the time, Silena, Beckendorf, Castor and Lee help him, Persephone and his servants with regular life in the palace; gardening, cooking, that kind of stuff.' Will giggled.  
'Plus,' Nico continued, 'The servants prank us back.' Will started to laugh.   
'Wow.'   
'Yeah,' Nico agreed. He kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. 'Let's go and make that recipe, shall we?'


	102. Not Everyone Likes Olympus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hephaestus doesn't like Olympus, but he has a friend to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that apparently Dionysus and Hephaestus were friends, so enjoy this one-shot.

Just another day, another crazy event on Olympus, Hephaestus thought. Zeus had planned a council meeting, and all the Gods had to be present. It didn't matter what their rank was; they had to stand on the main square at six O'clock in the evening. Hephaestus never listened to people saying he had to be somewhere, and he rather would not come to an event where literally every God was present. He did not like it of that much people where around him.  
He grabbed a hammer from the floor, and hammered on a piece of metal to get it flat. His mind was absent; he didn't know what he was going to make, but it didn't really matter. He could always give whatever it became to one of his demigod children. He had more important things to think about. Because, of course, if Zeus put in a letter that everyone had to be there, no excuses, than everyone had to be there, no excuses. Within five minutes after six 'O clock, a whole bunch of servants would stand by the door of his forge to try and force him to go to the mountain (and they would fail, you can be sure of that).  
Hephaestus picked up the boiling hot piece of metal, and tried to knead it into something of worth. As the god of the forge, he didn't need any tools that mortals need for forming metal into the shape they wanted. After five minutes of kneading, he realised he had just been playing with it like it was a piece of play-dough. It didn't look like it 'was' anything. He put it down, and sighed deeply.  
He heard something by the big, metal doors of his forge. One of them was being opened, and closed again after that. Hephaestus grabbed the piece of metal again. It was not a servant or hermes, than, those people never close the door. He heard someone walking through the workshop. He was coming straight towards the place where Hephaestus was working, so the god of the forge already knew who it was. 'Dionysus, I do not want to go to Olympus.' He heard someone chuckle, alongside someone accidentally running into a pile of wooden crates. 'You never want to go to Olympus.'  
Hephaestus clipped the light on of the area of the workshop were Dionysus should be. The wine god was putting some screws back into one of the wooden boxes. 'Those screws belong in the third box from under,' He remarked. Dionysus rolled his eyes.  
'Do they?' he walked over to Hephaestus. 'What are you making?' Hephaestus stared at the thing in his hands. 'Something technical.' Dionysus raised one of his eyebrows.  
'I think I will understand, Heph.' Hephaestus sighed. He turned his attention back to his project, and stepped closer to his anvil. With a snap of his fingers, a fire appeared, and he started melting the metal again. He heard Dionysus sigh behind him. 'Heph, why do you not want to go to Olympus?'  
Hephaestus didn't answer. After three minutes, he turned around, and saw that Dionysus was still looking at him like he expected an answer. 'Why aren't you at camp, anyway?' he asked. 'You can't answer a question with a question, Heph,' He said ('That is what that Leo child of you Always does, when you ask him why he made a huge robot and let it walk around camp,' he added so soft that Hephaestus couldn't hear it over the sounds of the hammer he had picked up). Hephaestus let the hammer rest on the anvil. 'I know. Yet, you know exactly why I do not want to go, Dio.' Dionysus sighed.  
'Yeah, I do. Sorry, Heph.' hephaestus raised his shoulders, and picked up the hammer again. 'Your daughter Juliana needs new Hearing-aids.' Hephaestus didn't answer.  
After fifteen minutes, he turned around. Dionysus was still sitting on a box filled with spare parts. Hephaestus leaned over him to grab something from a box behind him. Within a few seconds, he put something together. He looked at it for a few more seconds. Then, he showed it to Dionysus, who was still staring at him. 'Look. It only has a very small bit of that metal - it is mostly made of very soft plastic, and the electric source only needs to be recharged every year.' Dionysus smiled. 'Let me guess, you designed the electric source yourself?' Hephaestus nodded, and handed the hearing aid to the wine god.  
'If you could just hand it to Juliana. If you remember who she is.' Dionysus rolled his eyes.  
'I was the one who told you she needed a new hearing-aid. I know who she is.' Hephaestus put out the fire. 'Hm.' Dionysus sighed.  
'That is not why I came here, though.' Hephaestus laid his hand on the anvil.  
'I know,' he said. 'I...' he stopped talking. Dionysus shifted his legs.  
'Did something happen?' he asked. Hephaestus looked at him.  
'...I don't know.'  
He did not get an immediate answer. He turned to Dionysus. His metal limp made a screeching sound while he did so. He stared at the wine god. 'You have not been quiet since in threw you out of my forge back on Lemnos, and you came back that same evening with the announcement that you left your bag somewhere.' Dionysus looked up at the god (Which basically means that he had to throw his head into his neck, because Hephaestus was about twice as tall as him. And, of course, Dionysus was sitting and Hephaestus standing).  
'Heph, are you still afraid they all hate you on there?' Hephaestus shot him a dirty look.  
'And what if I am? They have repeatedly shown that they do not want me on there. Even now people will just ignore me. They find me repulsive, all of them!' Hephaestus yelled. He looked at Dionysus, who had a neutral expression on his face. Hephaestus felt his lip quiver.  
Dionysus got up. 'Hephaestus, I know you will not believe me if I tell you that most of them do not, even though it is true...'  
'Than do not say it.'  
'Okay, I won't.' Dionysus got up, and grabbed Hephaestus' hand. 'Yet, I think it is better if you come to Olympus.' Hephaestus looked him in the eyes, and sighed. 'Alright, tell me.'  
'They talk about you for longer if you do not show up than if you do.' Hephaestus squeezed his hand.  
'... I guess you're right. Just... let me get ready.'  
Dionysus fidgeted with a spare piece of metal, until his friend came back. Hephaestus was wearing an old suit. Dionysus raised his eyebrow. 'It is not a total disaster.' Hephaestus snickered.  
'I trust you on this, you know.' Dionysus shrugged.  
'That's not my fault.' He got up, and grabbed Hephaestus' hand again. 'It'll be fine, alright?' He said. 'I'll come along. Aglia is there as well. You won't... be alone in the crowd.' Hephaestus nodded, and squeezed his hand again.  
'Okay.' Dionysus smiled.  
'Let's go to Olympus, just like three thousand years ago, shall we?' Hephaestus nodded.  
'Some things really don't change.'


	103. Mother-Child day in Athena's Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athena decides to invite her kids to her palace.

Athena stood on a balcony, the one with a view on the main square of Olympus. In the middle of the square, next to Hestia's hearth, stood an announcement board, with a huge clock on top. It was currently ten minutes for five 'O clock. Athena fidgeted with her bracelet.  
Yesterday, Aphrodite had knocked on her door (figuratively. I reality, Aphrodite has just walked into her palace like she lived there) with the message that she needed to know where the beauty-books in the library were. She had gotten the answer that she should ask the librarian and leave Athena to work out a strategy for a fight with a few angry Cyclops. Miraculously, the love goddess had left. Or, so Athena had thought. That evening, a book was delivered to her door. It was a book on make-up, and a note had been Attached: Athena, maybe you could try this out. Aphrodite.  
The goddess of wisdom didn't like that somebody had the gaul to say that to her. So, she had teleported her physical body to camp Half-blood, and during dinner she had announced that her kids were welcome to come to her palace on the 25th at five O'clock in the Afternoon (she still wondered why nobody seemed to be surprised that she appeared. She didn't know that some God appeared about every other week).  
It was now nearing five 'O clock. Athena knew her children would probably arrive when it was exactly five 'O clock - unless Chiron and Dionysus had forbidden them from coming, something Athena didn't think would happen (there was a higher chance that Chiron listened to her and that Dionysus didn't care if the campers were in the camp or not).  
She was right - like she almost always was (we don't talk about the incident were she had to agree that Artemis was right about something, and if you mutter 'pufferfish' anywhere near Athena don't be surprised when she goes all warrior on you). About twelve children, with ages ranging from five to seventeen, arrived on her doorstep when it was exactly five 'O clock. She clapped in her hands. 'Come in, Children!' She said, trying to sound like Aphrodite when there was a new tea party. Her children all gave her confused looks, but they stepped inside the palace.  
Athena led them to her dining room. The room was very big, with a balcony on both sides, one looking out over the garden and the other one over the main square. There was a large, white table in the middle, where Athena often ate, with a bunch of academic friends, both gods and worthy mortals. Now, there were no books and papers lying around on the table, but instead face masks and make-up.   
When they entered the room, Athena heard a few of her children behind her gasp. She looked over her shoulders, and saw that all of her children were looking at the room like deers looking at the headlights of a car. 'Come on further!' She said. She realised she did not sound very enthusiastic. She felt someone grab her arm. 'Mum?' Athena's youngest child, a little boy called James, was tugging on her arm. 'Yes, James?' she asked.  
'Are we going to stay in the palace the entire day?' he asked. Athena did not expect to see stars in his eyes; he looked really excited to be in her palace. 'Um, yes, of course!' she said. James clapped in his hands, and darted to the balcony with the view of the garden. One of his siblings, a teenager called River, darted after him. 'Calm down, James!' she yelled as she followed him.   
Annabeth tapped on her mother's arm. 'Mom, was that the Original plan? You sounded hesitant.' Athena looked at her. 'Of course, Annabeth!' she said softly. 'Does anybody want a cupcake?' she said, louder. James, who was standing on the balcony with River, walked back. 'I do!' He said. He started to sound more excited with the second. Athena looked at her other kids, and realised that most of them begun to look just as excited as James.   
She begun passing out cupcakes. Annabeth took a little bite. She had to agree that it tasted really good. 'Mother, what are we supposed to do with eh... this?' one of the children asked, while holding one of the face masks. Athena stared at it. 'Yeah, I have no idea...' she whispered under her breath,'Uh... Put it on your face of course!' She heard someone giggle behind her.   
'Mom, we could also just watch netflix...' she heard someone say. Athena's expression got stern. 'No.' She opened one of the face masks. 'I want to do it like this.' She put some of the... old-sea clay apparently (She did not know, her servants had bought it on the market for her) on her face. She waited for a few seconds, while all of her children looked at her (Except for James, who was still munching on a cupcake and holding Rivers' hand).   
Annabeth's' giggle broke the silence. 'Mom, shall I apply it?' she asked, a little timid. Athena glared at her, but she gave one, small nod. Annabeth got the mask from her hand, and started to apply it.   
'How do you know how to do that, Annabeth?' she heard one of her brothers asking.   
'Jason Grace,' she answered. Nobody decided to ask anything about that. When she was done, Athena closed her eyes. 'I believe I have to sit down now, or something. It has to wait, right?' Annabeth nodded. 'Jup.' After Athena had sat down, Annabeth felt someone tugging on her sleeve. 'Annabeth?' said James' voice. She kneeled down, so that she was on James' eyesight. 'Yes, James?'  
Can I have a mask, too?' he asked. Annabeth looked up at River, who nodded.   
'Of course, James,' Annabeth answered. As she picked a very soft, very kind to the skin mask on the table, she also grabbed one for River; just because. More of her siblings also started to warm up to the beauty-products, and started to apply them on each others' faces and hands (Even though they could not help but experiment with the ingredients a little. Athena kids, you know; Always checking which type of eye-shadow has the highest PH-value).   
Annabeth walked back to her mother, while River was still applying the last bits of facemask on James' Face (And let him apply some on their face). 'Come, mom, we have to peel it of.' Athena raised one eyebrow. 'You peel this stuff off of your face?' She asked. Annabeth nodded. 'Yup.' Athena softly picked a bit of mask of her face. She pulled of a long bit of honey and chocolate off. She looked at the piece, slightly horrified, but she quickly got her expression back into her usual, serious expression, but happier (Or, the way she has been looking the entire evening).   
'Weird,' she said, as she peeled the rest of. Annabeth giggled again.   
'I had the same reaction when Jason peeled it of my face, the first time. But more expressive.' Athena wanted to say something back, but at that moment a bunch of servants came in with dinner.   
After dinner was done, James had fallen asleep in Rivers' arms. The Demigod picked him up. 'Mother, do you have a place where he can sleep?' she asked. Athena nodded.   
'Yes, of course. I'll show you.' She grabbed Rivers' shoulder, and took them to some extra room in the palace. While she was gone, one of her children figured out how to use the television. 'I do not know why she wanted to suddenly be girly, but we can be girly while we watch political dramas, now that James is gone, right?' he asked the rest. They all nodded.  
Athena later returned. 'Sorry I took so long. I wanted to help River with James, and then they fell asleep to. Now, what are we going to...'   
'Shh!' she heard from the small crowd of demigods sitting in front of her television.   
'Is that…' her eyes went wide, as she sat down next to her children (Some of them were still applying makeup). 'Never tell Aphrodite about this,' she whispered, before she grabbed a bit of popcorn.


	104. Sisters, don't get me started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeus decides that Aphrodite and Artemis should have some quality time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Aphrodite and Artemis are not sisters, but that was a funnier title than Second-Cousins twice removed don't get me started.

'Aphrodite! Get your stinking teargas out of my palace!' Artemis yelled. She stood in Aphrodite's front garden, with a bottle of Dior J'adore. Aphrodite threw her doors open. 'First you get away from my rose bushes!' She yelled.   
'What were you even doing in my house!?' Artemis screamed back, as answer. Aphrodite flipped her hair over her shoulder. 'I was getting back some of my silver eyeshadow, which you got from MY house!'   
'That is a lie! I never entered your love-infested nest!'   
'Oh? Than how did my silver earrings get inside your bathroom!'   
Artemis growled. She lifted her arms above her head, and threw the bottle of expensive perfume on the pavement. She made a not so nice gesture to Aphrodite, and left.   
The next morning, Artemis woke up, ready to go back to her hunters on earth. She stretched, and walked to her bathroom. She turned the lights on, and took a quick glance in the mirror. She held back a scream, and took a step back. She tripped over the little ledge of her shower, and fell against the wall. 'Ow,' she muttered, as she held her hand to the back of her head.  
She grabbed the first clothes that she saw lying around on the floor, and did not even bother to try and get the makeup of her face. She sprinted over to Aphrodite's garden. Aphrodite was sitting in her backyard, eating breakfast. One of her handmaidens was massaging her shoulders, another one was massaging her feet. A butler came walking in with an extra scone. 'Thank you, she said, as he put the silver plate down. Aphrodite was enjoining the morning. She felt good about her revenge on Artemis. She sighed, and took a long sip of orange juice.  
'APHRODITE! What is all of your dirt doing on my face!?' Artemis screamed, disturbing Aphrodites' morning peace. Aphrodite jumped up, and the handmaiden that was sitting by her feet shrieked and jumped away. 'Oh, sorry,' Aphrodite said as she helped the girl up. After that, she turned to Artemis, fuming. 'Why are you disturbing my morning peace?' She yelled. Her eyes glowed a shade of red. Artemis pointed at her face. 'I already told you why, you (Insert thing here that I simply cannot repeat).'  
Aphrodite got red in the face. '(Yeah I also cannot say that)! That was for that bottle of Dior perfume! I got that from my lover Tristan Mclean!' Artemis laughed scornfully.   
'Whatever! I swear, I will...'   
'Yes, Artemis, what would you?' An earnest voice said behind them. Artemis and Aphrodite turned their heads around. Athena stood next to a field of Daisies. Aphrodite pushed Artemis away. 'Get out, owl face. We do not need your judgement.' Athena pursed her lips.   
'Are you sure about that?' she asked. Artemis stepped in front of Aphrodite.   
'Yes, Athena.' Athena sighed.   
'Maybe you two should spend some time together,' She suggested. Artemis and Aphrodite looked at her like she was crazy. 'No? Why!' Artemis yelled. A thunderclap sounded, and Zeus appeared behind his daughters and Aphrodite. 'Because that's a great idea. Artemis, Aphrodite, get out to New York, or wherever we are now. I'll see you back at around... Eleven P.M.'   
'Dad! why...'   
'Because I said so. Bye, Bye, girls!' Artemis and Aphrodite disappeared. Athena and Zeus stayed behind, in Aphrodites' gorgeous garden. 'That was a little overboard, father. Also, why were you listening to our conversations?' Athena asked. She put her hands on her hips. Zeus shrugged.   
'I was bored. Bye, Athena.' He left without saying another word.  
Artemis and Aphrodite appeared in the middle of Central Park. Artemis stayed down on the grass, while Aphrodite quickly jumped up. 'Eh!' She ran back to the pavement. 'Artemis! Get up! I am not going to walk around with someone with grass-stains on her clothes!' Artemis got up extremely slowly. 'Alright, Alright,' She muttered, as she walked to the pavement. 'What?' she asked, when she realised Aphrodite was staring at her. 'Artemis, darling, that really won't do.' Artemis raised her right eyebrow. 'What won't do?'  
'Those clothes. Come.'  
Aphrodite grabbed Artemis' arm, and tried to pull her along. Yet, Artemis' arm slipped out of her hands, and the goddess of the hunt stayed where she was. 'I am not going clothes shopping.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes. 'Come on.'   
'No.' Aphrodite grabbed Artemis' shoulders, and tried to push her along. It did not work; the constant archery-practise gave Artemis huge muscles. Aphrodite sighed dramatically. 'We can go to some National Park after this,' she muttered. Artemis pursed her lips.   
'Hm... alright. Yet, then you need knew clothes as well,' she said, while shrugging. 'Something to properly walk in.' Artemis' eyes glided over Aphrodites' high heels, and her mini-skirt. The love goddess grinded her teeth. 'Alright, then,' She muttered.  
They entered a shoppings-street, with a lot of different stores. Artemis wanted to go into a camping store, with clothes that are handy for the forest, but Artemis pulled her into some high-fashion store. She looked around for six seconds, and declared: 'No way.' Aphrodite nodded.   
'Oh yes,' she said. 'They have the cutest shoes in here.' Artemis looked disgusted.   
'"Cute Shoes" is synonomephs for "Shoes that are impossible to walk on,"' She replied. Aphrodite rolled her eyes, picked the younger goddess up from the ground, and carried her to the second floor. She dropped her on the floor in front of a bunch of ankle boots. 'Look, Artemis, they look good. You look taller. Lovers like it.' Artemis stared at her.   
'How did you?..' Aphrodite rolled her eyes.   
'What makes you think I do not work out? I have muscles, too.' She grabbed a pair of ankle boots. 'Try these.' Artemis looked at them like it was bowl of dog food.   
'Alright. Yet, no lovers. You know that.' Aphrodite did not reply (She still thought it was ridiculous that Artemis did not even think about romance). Artemis put the small boots on, and stood up. 'Happy?' Aphrodite clacked with her tongue.   
'Almost. Wait right here.' Artemis tried to protest, but Aphrodite had already ran away. She sat down on a random loveseat. She muttered some not so nice things about Zeus, Aphrodite and Athena. Deciding that Aphrodite would take some time to pick clothes out, she decided to take a small nap right there.  
After an hour, Aphrodite came back to Artemis sleeping on the loveseat. She threw a pair of jeans at her. 'Wake up. Here, fit these, they go well with your shoes and posture.' Artemis looked at the jeans. 'They are too low-waisted. I am not wearing that.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes.  
'I already thought you would say that. Here is a skirt. Put it on.' Artemis looked around. Aphrodite almost growled. 'We can also go to the Bra-section, so we know for sure that there are no men around. Artemis shot her a dirty look, but walked into the fitting-room. She came out with the skirt on; and even she had to agree that it looked good. Aphrodite clapped in her hands. 'Perfect! Let me just...' Artemis sighed deeply.  
'No. We haven't had breakfast yet. We have new clothes so you do not try to constantly say "She doesn't know me." Now let's get something to eat.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes, but she didn't complain. She had to agree that she was also pretty hungry, after her chique breakfast got interrupted.   
'Let's go get some wafels,' Artemis said. She was distracted by the new skirt and boots; they were pretty uncomfortable, at least to someone who usually did not wear very fancy things (It just isn't very comfortable in the forest). Aphrodite gave her a weird look. 'Gross. Can we not get a breakfast with champagne and omelets?'  
'On the middle of the street?' Artemis asked. Aphrodite looked around.   
'Mortals do not have that? There is a place to get them on the market of Olympus.'  
'I do not know about other countries, but I do not think they have champagne and Omelets in food carts.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes.   
'Waffles, then, but do not think I like it.' Artemis rolled her eyes.   
'Sure, you do not. Yet, there is a food cart over there, with waffles. And we can get tea or coffee from Starbucks, if your majesty think that is passable.' Aphrodite shrugged.  
'It is fine, and I did notice that Sarcasm, you little...' Artemis put her hand on Aphrodite's mouth before she could say anything else. 'Shh.' She turned to the woman behind the cart. 'A waffle with whip cream and strawberries for me. What do you want... Alana?' She said. Aphrodite gave her grin. 'For me a waffle with Chocolate, marshmallows and fresh melon, please.'   
'Um, Ma'am, we are out of melon. Sorry,' The woman answered. Aphrodite fluttered with her eyelashes.   
'Are you sure, sweetie? I think you might be able to get something. There is a shop right over there...' Aphrodite pointed at a store a few metres away. The woman blushed as red as a heart filled with valentines chocolates. 'Ui Chan Do that, Ma'am,' She managed to say. She walked over to the store. Artemis turned to Aphrodite.  
'What was that?'  
'I did not even enchant her. I just flirted with her and she got all flustered.' Aphrodite shrugged in a manner that can only be described as sarcastic, even if that sounds weird and makes your loving narrator seem like someone who can only write sentences that sound good without said sentences meaning anything. Artemis clenched her jaw. 'Oh, sure, because that wasn't what you wanted to happen at all, of course.' Aphrodite clenched her fists.  
'Say, missy-know-it-all, are you going to be like this the entire day?' Artemis folded her arms in front of her chest. 'Says the person who immediately wanted to buy new clothes, because she did not want to be seen with someone with a few minor grass-stains.' Aphrodite scoffed. 'Say, we need to be together for almost thirteen hours to come,' Artemis continued, 'Maybe we should try to understand each other?' Aphrodite scoffed again.  
'Sure, girl who spits on everything I stand for,' She replied. Artemis laughed sarcastically.   
'Says who exactly?' Aphrodite wanted to say something not so nice back, but the girl came back with melon. 'Sorry for the wait, ma'am. I'll start making your waffles!' The girl begun to make waffles that looked so good that even Aphrodite started water mouthing. She put the ingrediënts on them, and handed them to the ladies. 'Here you go!' Aphrodite put twenty dollars on the counter. 'Keep the change,' she said as she took a bite of waffle. The girl stared at the money. 'Th-thanks!' She blurted out. Aphrodite smiled and winked.   
'Bye, sweetie!' she said. She walked away with Artemis, who kept inside all of the not so nice things she thought of and just rolled her eyes. 'Poor girl.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes   
'I left her my Phone number.' Artemis felt a giggle rise up in her. It felt weird.  
'Lets just get coffee.' Aphrodite nodded.   
'Yeah, I want coffee too.' They did not talk while walking to the nearest Starbucks (They are everywhere, so finding one was easy), partly because they did not want to, partly because they were eating waffles. They finished their waffles before they got into the Starbucks. When they stepped inside, both women, at the same time, stopped walking when they saw that there was no line. Aphrodite clapped in her hands. 'It is a world wonder!' she squealed.   
Artemis nodded. 'It really is.' They walked up to the counter. There was a twenty-something dude standing at the coffee machine. He got visibly nervous when he saw Aphrodite. 'Uh, hello, ladies. What do you two want?' he asked. Aphrodite looked at the menu, trying to figure out what she wanted. Artemis immediately said: One coffee with sugar, milk, whip cream and honey.' The boy started to get her the coffee, while Aphrodite didn't really listen to what she had just said.  
'For me a coffee with sugar, milk, whip cream and Honey! She eventually said. The man laughed. 'You two are sisters, aren't you? Ordering the same coffee doesn't just happen to anyone!' He laughed about his own joke.  
But Artemis and Aphrodite didn't laugh. They turned their heads to each other, surprised and weirded-out. They silently paid for their coffees, and sat down at a table in the corner (All gods did that. That way they could see everyone in the room at all times). 'So. Why do you order a sweet coffee?' Artemis asked Aphrodite. Aphrodite shrugged.  
'Because I can. And I don't like bitter things.' A small smirk appeared on her face. 'And neither do you, apparently. Not as tough as you appear, eh?' Artemis shot her an angry look, but nodded. 'I guess. I just do not like very black coffee in the morning. It is better in the afternoon.' Aphrodite nodded. 'It is! You know, Athena drinks a pot of pure black coffee in the morning.' Artemis gasped. 'Really? That would explain a lot.' Aphrodite nodded.  
'Yes. She drinks it every morning; I have never seen it without it.' Artemis took a sip of coffee.   
'I did. Once, one of her servants overslept, so she could not get coffee on time for a meeting. She talked nonsense during the entire duration of the meeting.' Aphrodite laughed out loud.   
'No! For real! Tina? Acting like that?' Artemis nodded.  
'Yes.' She sighed. 'If she had not had coffee this morning, we would not be here. Than she would have been to busy with doing other things than look at us fighting.' Artemis wiped her face. 'Thanks for taking the makeup off, by the by.' Aphrodite shrugged.   
'No worries.' They kept silent for some time, while they sipped their coffees. 'Say, have you ever heard the story of Hermes singing in the shower?' Artemis shook her head.   
'No. Was it another truth or dare?' Aphrodite grinned.  
'Let me tell you.'   
The women sat in the Starbucks for another two hours, talking about all the stupid things everyone had done. 'So, then, Hypnos falls asleep in my garden, and I have to throw him out of my gate!' Artemis ended. She stretched. 'You really know a lot of gossip,' She said to Aphrodite. The other woman nodded. 'I know. I am worse than your younger brothers, I can promise you that.' Artemis raised an eyebrow. Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus were notorious for knowing (and spreading) dirt about everyone.   
Her stomach growled. 'I'm hungry.' Aphrodite sighed.   
'There is a salad bar across the street.' Artemis rolled her eyes.  
'We would go to the forest. We need something more substantial than just a salad.' Aphrodite twirled a lock of hair around her finger (A man sitting at a table looked like all the blood had rushed to his cheeks). 'What if I get a salad, and you can get what you call "a substantial meal?"' Artemis shrugged. 'Whatever you want.'  
At nine P.M., Aphrodite was starving. They just got back into the city, from a hike in Shenandoah National Park. She looked at her clothes. 'Oh, shoot,' she muttered. They were covered in mud and dirt and twigs; probably the result of falling into a puddle. She looked at Artemis, right next to her. She looked happy. Aphrodite? Not so much. 'Artemis,' she whined (She could not help it), 'I am hungry. and look at my clothes!' Artemis rolled her eyes.  
'I warned you against both of those things, but missy did not listen,' she answered, catty. Aphrodite pursed her lips. 'So?' Artemis sighed, in the annoyed fashion that mostly teenagers are very good at (Watch any highschool movie and you'll understand what I mean). 'You know what, because we have been in the forest for most of this day, you can pick the restaurant.' Aphrodite's' eyes lit up. 'Really? Great!'   
They were on their way again. Aphrodite used some magic to make herself look presentable again. She led Artemis to a restaurant that Artemis did not expect to go to. She had expected something healthy, with low calories, but right now they were standing in front of a restaurant of the kind that serves massive amounts of food, and even larger desserts. She begun watermouthing only by looking at it. Aphrodite pushed her inside.   
Artemis ordered massive amounts of food; burgers, fries, everything. Aphrodite only ordered a salad. Artemis rolled her eyes. 'Why? You are a restaurant like this! You already ate a salad!' Aphrodite gave her an angry look. 'Shush.' Artemis gave her a dirty look back, and another one when Aphrodite clearly flirted with the waiter.   
For desert, Artemis was full. She only ordered a small cup of coffee. Aphrodite, meanwhile, ordered a huge, chocolate-ty, sugar-filled desert. 'That is terrible meal planning. Deserts don't fill you up.' Aphrodite nodded enthusiastically.   
'Right, they do not. So I can get more of it.' Artemis decided not to challenge that.   
Instead of picking them up around eleven P.M., Athena landed in front of them at ten P.M. Artemis and Aphrodite were both delighted. 'Yes! Free from this sugar-and-salad-loving nature hater!' Artemis whispered under her breath, remembering that Aphrodite had thrown the wrapper of her Mars-bar on the forest soil (Demeter would be furious). Aphrodite expressed similar feelings about Artemis - something about her spitting on love and fashion.   
Athena swallowed. They looked so happy to be free of each other (Fists in the air, doing a little dance) that she did not have the heart to tell them that they were supposed to do it again, next monday, as ordered by Zeus. She was going to need more black coffee for that.


	105. Truth or dare, but not to the death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Floor nineteen plays a nice, peaceful game of Truth or Dare

Magnus wasn't very sure about the 'No, Magnus, it is no an activity to the death!' That Mallory had tried to tell him. Yet, here he was anyway, playing truth or dare with his floormates (but not to the death. If you asked for a truth or a dare that resulted in the victi... I mean the contestant dying, they would be thrown out of the window). Mallory pointed at T.J. 'Alright, T.J. - Truth or dare?' T.J. thought for some time.  
'Truth, but not to the death.' Mallory grinned.  
'This tuesday, when you were not at the Food Fight To The Death, were you really studying, or where you just in the salad bar on the tenth floor with Marie Carson?' T.J. didn't answer at once.  
'...maybe.' Mallory snickered.  
'I see that as a yes, and I take it the rest does to.' The rest of T.J. Floormates nodded. Alex let out a giggle. T.J. Heard that, and immediately pointed at him. 'Alex, truth or dare?' Alex bit his lip, knowing that he should not have giggled. 'Dare, but not to the death.' T.J. tapped the floor while thinking. 'Let's see... Oh, I dare you to go and grab some food off of someones plate in the meat corner.' Alex sighed deeply, but he stood up.  
'The meat corner' was a restaurant on the 160th floor. It had the reputation that people would fight each other for something like breathing right next to each other. Stealing meat of off someone's plate was probably enough to be kicked of the balcony and straight into the battlefield. The fact that T.J. believed that Alex could get out alive, kind of said something about T.J.'s faith in Alex' fighting ability.  
Alex stepped out of the elevator. He walked past a few bedrooms, which all had different kinds of music coming out of it; it sounded so horrible (Imagine heavy metal, but with slimy romance music mixed into it) that Alex almost gave up. Almost. He pushed open the door of The Meat Corner, and just lounged against a table (Not next to the door or in a corner, though, than people think you are planning something and they will attack you).  
After a few seconds, a man stood up. 'Say, Jacks, do you have anymore of this stuff (He did not say stuff, but I have sworn an oath not to swear in these stories, so imagine them yourself)?' A guy, apparently Jacks, looked at his plate. 'Only if you have a few golden coins for me.' The man with the food violently jumped up. 'I do not pay! You can catch these hands!' he yelled. As he stepped away from his plate, Alex saw his chance. He jumped up, grabbed the piece of meat, tried not to throw up (it felt really slimy and seemed like it was made out of alien blob), and sprinted out the Meat Corner.  
The music was still blaring, and Alex felt grateful for that - Jacks and the man she had stolen meat from had not heard it before, and they got confused as soon as they stepped outside. Alex ran to the elevator, and the door closed just as the two men got back into movement.  
He stepped back onto floor eighteen, with the slice of questionable 'meat.' 'I got it.' T.J. nodded. Magnus and Halfborn gave her a small applause. 'That is worth some kind of medal. Yet, what is that... thing, Alex. It seems to move,' Magnus commented. Alex looked down at the piece of meat. The slime did move. It leaked onto his hands, and seemed to be consuming him. He gagged. 'Wait here while I go and get this of my hands.' While he walked away, he heard Halfborn laugh.  
Never laugh during Truth or Dare - because you will be next. Alex pointed at Halfborn. 'Halfborn, Truth or dare?' Halfborn gave him a dirty look.  
'Dare, but not to the death.'  
'I dare you to go to floor 134th.' Halfborn gasped. He slowly got up, and walked to the elevator. When he was gone, Mallory jumped to Alex. 'Floor 134? Really? You could not think of anything else?' Alex laughed like a maniac, a skill he had perfected over the last few weeks.  
'I could've, but I did not.' Mallory stormed of to her room, and slammed the door shut. Alex grinned, just as her door opened. Samirah stepped out of the room. 'Oh, hello. Sorry, Alex, but I had to use the world tree, and the giant squirrel was behind me, and I needed to get here...' Alex waved his hand. 'Yeah, yeah, it is alright.' An uncomfortable silence fell.  
'What are you doing?' Sam asked.  
'We are playing truth or dare, but not to the death,' T.J. answered, 'Alex dared Halfborn to go to floor 134, and Mallory stormed off to her room.'  
Sam blushed a little. 'You know, I can understand that.' Alex shrugged.  
'Yeah, maybe.' (I am very sorry, but because I have sworn not to swear I cannot tell you what goes on on floor 134. Just... use your imagination).  
Halfborn came back, with smudged makeup on his face. 'That was the worst thing ever, Alex.' Alex nodded. 'Yup.' Mallory peeked around the door. She saw Halfborn, and closed the door again. Halfborn stared at the door. 'What's going on with her?' It sounded like something was thrown against the door. Halfborn rolled his eyes, but then he noticed that Samirah was there.  
'Sam, are you playing along?' Sam kept a neutral expression for a few seconds.  
'You know what? Yeah, I'll play along.' She sat down between Alex and Magnus.  
'Alright. Sam, Truth or dare?' Halfborn asked.  
'Truth,' she said, with no hesitation.  
'You need to say "not to the death,"' Alex whispered in her ear.  
'Not to the death,' Sam repeated.  
'Have you ever held anyone's hand?' Halfborn asked.  
'... no,' Sam said, with hesitation. She got a lot of stares from around the room.  
'Anyway, Magnus, truth or dare?' She quickly said. Magnus stared at her.  
'Hey! I haven't done anything!'  
'So what?'  
Magnus shrugged slowly. He had no answer to that.  
'Dare, but not to the death.'  
Sam tapped her cheek. 'I dare you to go to the table of the valkyrie and ask any of them what their favorite romantic song is.' Magnus bit his lip, but got up and walked to the elevator door.  
While the elevator was going down, Magnus was regretting not going to Origami To The Death. That would probably be more peaceful, even with the residents of hotel Valhalla folding traps for each other. He stepped out of the elevator. He walked through the lobby, and went to the mess hall. There were two Valkyries sitting at their table. One of them was Boudicca, queen of Britains, and the other was a woman dressed in a frilly pink dress called Minnie. Magnus did not trust people in frilly clothes, but talking to queen Boudicca also did not sound preferable.  
He stood there thinking for such a long time, that both women noticed him. 'Hey! Skinny boy! What are you looking at!?' Boudicca yelled. Magnus swallowed. There was no turning back now.  
'Erm... I had a request from Samirah...'  
Minnie rolled her eyes. 'Sure. It isn't like Sam always and I mean Always does her chores herself.' Magnus bit his lip. He had not thought this through properly (I am just saying. You know, in case you missed it). 'Yeah, uh... so what is the most popular romantic song with the Valkyries these days?' He blurted out. Boudicca and Minnie gave him confused looks.  
'"What's love got to do with it," by Tina Turner, obviously,' Minnie answered. 'Always been as well.' Boudicca nodded.  
'Okay, thanks, bye!' Magnus decided that running was the best option, before The women decided that that was actually top secret information that Magnus was not allowed to know.  
He brought the information to Sam. 'That they did not immediately attack you,' she said. She gave Magnus a small applause. 'Well done.' Magnus looked around the circle.  
'So, Mallory...' Mallory cut him off before he could say anything else.  
'Al, I dare you to kiss Magnus.' Alex and Magnus' mouths fell open.  
'Hey! It was my tu...' Alex kissed him before Magnus could finish his sentence. Magnus closed his eyes. He felt really good, but he also didn't. 'Oh my gods, Mallory,' he is dying, he heard Halfborn say. Magnus opened his eyes again. He just saw Mallory dive into her room and close the door.  
'Shall we... stop? And to get dinner in fifteen minutes?' T.J. Asked no one in particular.  
'Great idea,' Sam and Magnus said at once.


	106. The First Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiron is confused by his first two pupils.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a while ago, I read the Camp Half-blood Confidential (I believe it is called). There was a story of the first group of demigods in there, and I did not agree with it, so here is my version.

Chiron looked out over the forest, from the platform where his cave was. Although, cave, it looked more like an actual house these days. Chiron took a sip of Ambrosia; his life was so peaceful. He was thankful to Apollo for training him in the medical field, archery and the arts - it made him feel really good. Chiron had almost forgotten about what the god had said after the training: that he would send Chiron students, so he could teach them how to be heroes.  
Zeus, high up on his throne on mount Olympus, hadn't. He had heard about Apollo's idea months ago, but he figured that right now would be a good moment to try and see if Chiron could take care of teenagers. At the moment, Zeus was aware of two demigod sons of his existence. He would subtle plant the idea in their minds to go to Chiron. Not that he really knew where either Of the, were hanging out at the moment, but the idea would reach them anyway.  
It was already late in the afternoon when Chiron heard something. It sounded like a screaming human child. He threw his bow over his shoulder and galloped out of his cave, into the forest. The sound came from the right side; Chiron knew there was an open field somewhere around there. An open field where monsters sometimes hung out. He decided to look there first. When he reached it, he saw two human children trying to do something against a pretty big cyclops.  
Chiron shot it down with ease. He looked at the two kids on the grass. One of them was still sitting up, shaking. The other one was lying on the grass, and was so still that Chiron feared the worst. He slowly came closer. 'Hello.' The sitting kid tried to get up, and stretched his hand, as a weak attempt to fend him off. 'I won't hurt you if it is not necessary, Chiron said soothingly, 'I swear it on the river Styx.' The child seemed to calm down because of those words, but they still looked eary. They got onto their feet.  
'Who are you?' Chiron asked. 'I am Chiron.' The child straightened his back, even though they still looked scared.  
'My name is Perseus, son of Zeus,' he answered. Chiron raised his eyebrows. He knew there were two demigod sons of Zeus around, because Apollo had told him, but he had not expected the lord of the heavens to trust one of them with him. 'Alright, Perseus. Please wait for a bit; I need to check your companion. Perseus nodded.  
'Of course.' (His voice sounded less wobbly). Chiron kneeled down next to the other child.  
'Is this... your half-sister?' He asked, as soon as he noticed the other kid was unconscious. Perseus shook his head.  
'No. He told me he is also a son of Zeus, but refused to tell me his name.' Chiron must have had a weird look on his face, because Perseus continued: 'oh, yeah, he looks like a girl. I don't know why.' Chiron picked the second son up, after noticing that he was bleeding from a wound on his shoulder.  
'Alright. I guess I'll first have to treat him to find out, then.'  
Perseus seemed to be hesitant to come along, but he did anyway, probably figuring that breaking your vow on the Styx was stupid and dangerous. 'Are you wounded?' Chiron asked. Perseus nodded.  
'Not so badly, but I got this cut on my arm,' he answered, while showing Chiron a wound on his arm. He looked at it as good as he could, which was not very good (considering he was also carrying an unconscious person). 'That doesn't look good. I'll take a look at it when we are home.'  
When they reached the cave, Chiron lead Perseus immediately to his small infirmary. He put the kid he was carrying down on a bed. 'Will you get me that towel and those bandages?' He asked Perseus. The demigod handed it to him. While Chiron was bandaging the shoulder of his companion, he quietly looked at it, sitting on a chair, while holding the towel against his arm. Chiron checked his breathing and heart rate - which was fine - and after that decided to wait until he woke up.  
'So, why were you and your brother in this forest? It is full off monsters.' Perseus slowly shook his head.  
'It might sound weird, but I think we were seeking you. I do not know why.' Chiron could understand why very well, seeing as how both kids were sons of Zeus and Zeus had the power to put ideas into people's heads. 'Well, you are here now,' Chiron answered, 'how old are you?'  
'I am twelve. I do not know how old he is,' he said while gesturing to the other child.  
Chiron finished bandaging up the wound. 'Do you want something to eat or drink? After that, you'll need to rest.' Perseus nodded. Chiron gave him something to eat and drink, which Perseus silently ate. After he was done, he fell asleep in five minutes. Chiron cleaned up the dishes. He turned around, and looked into the infirmary, where both kids were still asleep. 'This feels pretty weird,' he muttered to himself, as he went to bed as well.  
That night, the second kid woke up. He felt dizzy and sick, plus his sight was blurry. He realised he was in a new area. 'Perseus?' The other kid was to tired to wake up, but Chiron heard it. He put on a lamp and walked into the infirmary. 'Hello.' The kid let out something that sounded like a scream, but quieter. 'It's alright,' Chiron said, 'I swore on the Styx that I wouldn't hurt you and your friend, and I won't do that.' Just like it had calmed down Perseus, it seemed to calm down this one.  
'Who are you?' The kid asked. Chiron got some water.  
'Your voice is cracked. My name is Chiron.' His patient did not answer. 'What is your name? Your brother told me you did not tell him.'  
The kid nodded. 'I did not want to. He told me he was seeking you to, but I could not be sure that he... did not work for the Queen.' Chiron raised his eyebrow.  
'The Queen? Of your kingdom?'  
'No, the heavenly queen.'  
Chiron nodded slowly. 'You knew he was your brother, though. You still did not trust him?'  
'No.' It stayed silent for a while.  
'Yet, I believe our father send us on this quest, so I think I can trust you. And him, probably.' He gestured to Perseus. Chiron nodded. 'So?..'  
'It is not my real name, but everyone calls me Dionysus, so it would be easier if you call me that to.'  
'So you are that kid from mount Nyssa, then? Hm. I guess I can understand your fear of... the queen. Yet, I promise she will not come here.' Dionysus raised his shoulders, but then let out a scream that went over into a yelp.  
'There is a wound on your shoulder. You and Perseus were attacked by a Cyclops.' Dionysus nodded.  
'I remember that.' Chiron yawned.  
'It is pretty late. You should try to get some more sleep; tomorrow I can explain where you two are.'  
'Alright.' Chiron put out the lamp, and walked back to his own room.  
The next morning, he woke up again. He got out of bed, ready for a new day... Oh, right, those kids. He walked to the infirmary. They were both still asleep. Considering the day they had yesterday, he let them, and decided to get something for breakfast instead. Nothing fancy; bread, cheese and water.  
After five minutes, Dionysus stepped out of the infirmary. 'Good morning,' Chiron said cheerfully. 'Hello,' Dionysus replied. He sounded iery. 'Perseus is still asleep.' Chiron nodded.  
'Right. Are you hungry?' Chiron answered. Dionysus nodded.  
'A little.' Chiron gave him some bread and water.  
Perseus got into the living room a few minutes after that. 'Good morning... Oh, can I also have some food?' He said as he sat down. Chiron nodded, and put his cup down on the table.  
'Alright. I believe Zeus has send both of you this way, so I can train you, for... something.' Perseus put his bread down. 'So you do not know either?' Chiron shrugged.  
'There is evidence that demigods attract monsters. I think I'll start by teaching you two how to fend them off.' Both of them nodded.  
After breakfast, Chiron took both of them outside - and he immediately realised he had no idea what to do. 'Uh... can one of you already use a weapon?' Perseus put up his hand.   
'I have done some basic sword training!' Chiron nodded.  
'Good. And you?' Dionysus shook his head.  
'Nothing. They, eh... wanted to keep the illusion up, I guess.' He tugged on his sleeve. Chiron looked away. He didn't know what to say to that. 'Oh. Eh, Alright, Perseus, I have strawmen for training sessions. I'll give you a wooden sword first, alright?' Perseus nodded enthusiastically. 'Yes!'  
Chiron turned to Dionysus. 'Maybe you should first let your shoulder rest. Stay close to the house, alright?' Dionysus nodded slowly - Chiron noticed he was slightly disappointed.  
'I'll get water as well.'  
Chiron brought Perseus to the training area. 'Here is a wooden sword. Now, please show me what you can do.' Perseus smiled enthusiastically, and attacked a strawman. Chiron took a step back, while it basically dissolved in the first strike. 'Woah. I did not expect that,' he remarked. Perseus looked back. 'You think so? I have been training since I was seven!' Chiron raised his eyebrows. 'Amazing.' he kept silent for a moment. 'Did you have to, or are there other reasons?' Perseus' face got darker.  
'Well... I want to fight of bad guys.' Perseus looked at the wooden sword. 'If I can fight, I might keep the monsters away from my mother, and the people in the village. Than... than I can be a hero!' Perseus' eyes flared up, but they swiftly stopped sparkling. 'I am a son of the head god Zeus. I... I need to be strong.'  
Chiron listened to his students' ramblings. 'Say, Perseus... do you wish to do that because you want to... or because you want to prove yourself?' he softly asked. Perseus' smile faded.  
'...Both, I think. I... I want to do the... right thing, but I also... I also want my father to... recognise me.' Perseus looked at the ground. Chiron walked closer to him.  
'I do not think that that is unusual. I have heard of lots of sons who wish to make their fathers' proud.' Perseus gaze glided to his sword again.  
'Yes, but those fathers are... not the king of the heavens. They'll be proud of their sons when they correctly lead an army, or are capable with a sword. I... I feel like I need to do so much more. Like I need to do something truly great.' Chiron laid his hand on Perseus' shoulder.  
'Those are very ambitious thoughts for a twelve-year-old.' Perseus did not react.  
'Chiron? Will you train me so I will be able to do... something great?' Perseus looked up at Chiron. The centaur saw the determination and hope in his eyes. 'Perseus?'  
'Yeah?'  
'I'll promise to make you one of the best heroes ever.'  
They trained for a few more hours - although Perseus was well-trained and talented, he still needed a few pointers. When it became lunch time, they walked back to the cave. 'Chiron, that was great!' Chiron nodded.  
'You were great, Perseus. Yet, don't remember that you still need training, and strawmen are not real enemies - you might need to find a training partner to fight with.' Chiron tapped his cheek. 'You'll probably need to find someone in your home town. If Dionysus truly never tried to fight before, he won't be a good sparring partner.' Perseus nodded thoughtfully.  
'Yeah, you're right.' They reached the cave, and they stepped inside.  
'Dionysus?' Chiron called. No-one answered. Chiron turned around. 'Dionysus?' He heard something rustle by a few nearby-trees. 'Over here.' He climbed out of a tree. 'What did you do?' he asked as soon as he reached the cave. 'Sword-training,' Perseus answered. 'Now we'll get lunch.' Dionysus sighed.  
'Good.' he walked inside. Chiron looked down, at Perseus.  
'I think I'll have to train him in... something. Why don't you train some more on your own after that?'  
'Fine. Yet, Chiron, he really isn't that strong.' Chiron shrugged.  
'We'll see about that.'  
During lunch, Perseus kept blabbing about how great his first training was. When he left, and Chiron tried to talk to Dionysus, he noticed that he was gone already. He stepped outside, and walked over to the small group of trees. 'Dionysus?'  
'Here.' He heard something in the trees, and he climbed down a few branches, until he was a Chiron's level. Chiron raised his eyebrows. 'You climbed up a tree in a long chiton and without your hair tied up?' Dionysus looked into his eyes.  
'Yes. I Always wear this, and you get used to it.' Chiron took a deep breath.  
'Have you ever worn traditional male clothing?' Dionysus shrugged.  
'Yes, but it doesn't feel much different than female clothing. I know there are people that feel really weird in male or female clothing, but I don't. And let me guess: Now you are going to ask me what I am generally good at.' Chiron stared at him.  
'No, you do not have to do that. Yet, you are older than Perseus, right?'  
'Yes, I am fourteen.'  
After a few minutes, Chiron started to speak again. 'Is there a reason why you climbed in this tree?'  
'The dryad was okay with it.' Chiron blinked.  
'You asked the dryad of this tree if you could sit on this particular branch.'  
'Yes.' Chiron raised his eyebrows (Again. I am going to strain them if these kids are here longer, he thought, just like my neck). 'You can talk to dryads... Maybe it is a weird question, but can you also... manipulate plants that are not inherited by dryads?'  
'I believe so, but not trees.' Dionysus hopped down from the branch. 'There is a small bush of wild strawberries over there. I can show you.' Chiron followed him. Dionysus kneeled down. He let his fingers run past the leaves. The vines started to grow around his wrist, circling it like a bracelet. More strawberries slowly grew out of the new vines. 'I think I picked it up because of the nymphs. One of them showed me how to let plants grow quicker.'  
When the vines reached his elbow, he slowly pulled his arm back. He picked a few strawberries, and handed them to Chiron while getting up again. Chiron took a bite out of one. 'They are sweeter than any other strawberries I have tasted.' Dionysus shrugged again.  
'Hm. It isn't very impressive, though, is it?'  
Chiron sighed.  
'It isn't a bad skill, though.' Dionysus shrugged. His expression darkened.  
'Yeah, but it isn't really what people expect from a son of Zeus, isn't it? I mean, Perseus is strong. He can fight; that's what people want to see, not some kid who can let plants grow.' He tugged on his skirt.  
Chiron laid his hand on his shoulder, but Dionysus continued: 'There must be other ways to fight than with strength, though.' He turned around, and Chiron couldn't say he thought the glint in his eyes was completely harmless. 'There must be a way to... fight by breaking someone's mind.' Chirons' eyes got big. 'You mean driving them mad? That... That isn't really...' Chiron fell silent. Dionysus nodded.  
'I know, Chiron, it's impossible.' He patted Chirons' hand. 'Don't worry.'  
After a few more hours, it was time for dinner. Dionysus offered to help Chiron cook, and it turned out he also wasn't bad at that. Just as they sat down to eat, Apollo came rushing into the cave. 'CHIRON! I need help!' He yelled. He was carrying a little bundle in his arms, and the little bundle cried. Perseus and Dionysus walked back - they looked at the sun God in awe.  
Chiron stepped closer to Apollo. 'Apollo, is that a baby!?' Apollo nodded.  
'His name is Asclepius. His... His mother died, and I cannot take care of him. I... I just wanted to ask...' A tear rolled down Apollo's cheek. Chiron picked the little bundle of baby out of Apollo's arms. 'He needs milk. There is a small amount of milk in the back, will one of you get it?' Dionysus walked away. Apollo twiddled his thumbs while he was standing in the living room. Perseus came a little closer. 'So... you are the god Apollo?' Apollo nodded.  
'You must be Perseus.' Perseus nodded enthusiastically.  
'You know my name?!' Apollo didn't reply. The baby started crying louder, while Dionysus came back with the milk. Chiron started warming it above the fire, while busily talking with Apollo, about the baby. Perseus looked at Dionysus. 'What if we just go outside for a bit?'  
After an hour, Apollo had explained everything, the baby was clothed and sleeping and Apollo and Chiron had catched up. 'Apollo, thanks that you came along, but I need to see those other two kids.' Chiron stepped outside, and looked around. 'Dionysus? Perseus?' He didn't get an answer. He yelled their names again - louder.  
'I can't find them,' he said to Apollo, slightly panicked. Apollo walked a few steps outside.  
'I believe they are in the west part of the forest.' Chiron gave him a quick nod.   
'Thanks, Apollo, now I have to find the...' He stopped talking when he saw both of the demigods casually trodding out of the forest; as casual as when can when your entire body is covered in monster dust.   
'I think I found a training partner,' Perseus remarked. Dionysus shrugged.  
'I helped, somewhat. I can be in the trees just high enough for them to not reach me, so Perseus can get to them.' Chiron sighed deeply (While acting like he did not hear Apollo laughing loudly behind him). 'Well… this surely is not going to be an easy job, is it?'  
(It wasn't. Yet, even four-thousand years later, Chiron still loved his job).


	107. Vaccinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The campers have to get vaccianted. Nico is more nervous than he shows.

Nico squished Wills' hand. 'What? I have to get vaccinated?' At Camp Jupiter!?' He asked, more panicked than surprised. 'Why?' Chiron smiled. Yet, he looked very tired - he had gone through about eighteen demigods who needed all weren't vaccinated yet, and they had all given the same answer. Tomorrow he had to tell another fifteen kids that they would get some medical attention, something that he was not looking forward to.   
Will squished Nico's hand back. 'It is so you don't get ill, Nico. Remember when you got the measles a few weeks ago and you had to lay in bed for three weeks?' Nico pouted.   
'Alright, I'll go.' Chiron almost let out a relieved sigh. Nico was the easiest demigod he had gotten to get a vaccination that day (Thanks to Doctor Will, of course). 'Great. Tomorrow afternoon, a bus will be ready. You and thirty-four other demigods will be driven to camp Jupiter, where they have a vaccination program set up in the hospital of New Rome.' Nico slowly nodded. 'Thanks, Chiron,' he said. Nico and Will walked out of the Big House, back to the Hades cabin.  
Chiron sighed deeply. Finally, he was done. He stood up, put out the lights and walked up the stairs, to the small living room. He didn't see Argus anywhere (He was probably checking if the bus was safe and had enough fuel for the ten millionth time). Dionysus was sitting his head over the table in such a manner that Chiron decided that he did not need to talk to him. Yet, he did it anyway. 'Do you remember if Apollo also gave a reason why We had to tell all the campers to get vaccinated, and he didn't do it himself?'   
Dionysus put his head up. 'Something about you having more authority and time.' Chiron rolled his eyes. 'Sounds like a pretty generic "I realise this is important but can you fix it" to me.' He filled a glass with water, and took a sip. 'Yet, at least he cares, right? There would be a lot of gods who would not have said anything. Or slammed their heads on the table when they have to write a report.' Chiron walked into the hallway with bedrooms before Dionysus could say anything back.

'Will, you are coming along, right?' Will nodded.  
'Yes. I have to make sure everything goes right on the bus. Plus, they apparently need an extra doctor.' Nico let out a deep breath.   
'Oh, good.' Will raised an eyebrow.  
'Nico, are you scared of getting a small vaccination?'   
Nico blushed a little. 'No? Of course not,' He mumbled. 'Yet, maybe Hazel is scared, so I thought that maybe she wanted to see someone she knew?' While Nico said it, he realised how flimsy it sounded. Yet, Will acted like he thought that was a totally logical argument. 'Sweet of you, Neeks. Yet, I believe Hazel is not very afraid of needles. Remember that one time when she had to get blood drawn? She was less afraid than you and Frank.' Nico didn't answer at all.  
The next day, Chiron managed to get the other fifteen demigods to step inside the bus, and they left (Chiron immediately handed control to Dionysus and walked away to take a nap). Will and Nico sat in the front of the bus. Nico had a box with snacks - and none of them were very healthy, which annoyed Will so much that he just hobbled up and down the middle path of the bus the entire ride.   
The busride went surprisingly good. So good, that Will wondered if Argus hadn't turned against the camp and told monsters to stay away - it just seemed to easy. Yet, nothing was wrong, and the huge group of demigods easily got into camp Jupiter. Some centurion Nico and Will didn't recognise was leading the entire mission, sending the patients over to one side, and the doctors to another.   
Which meant that Nico and Will had to split up. 'Doctors to the right, and patients to the left!' The centurion said. Will let go of Nico's hand, but Nico grabbed his wrist. 'What are you doing?' Will gave him a weird look. 'I have to over there. I am a doctor, remember?' He shook his hand loose. Nico was to distraught to say anything. 'Hazel is right over there, Neeks,' Will remarked, while pointing at the girl, who was standing further in the line.   
Nico tried to run over to her, but the centurion stopped him. 'What are you doing?' He asked. Nico started to feel a little sick. 'That-That's my Little sister! Uh... I, uh...' The centurion rolled his eyes. 'Just go.' Nico muttered something that might have been a 'thank you,' and ran over to Hazel. He grabbed her arm. 'Hazel! Hey, uh... I thought you might be scared!'  
Hazel seemed a little startled, until she noticed that the person who grabbed her arm was her brother. 'I am not scared, Nico. Don't you remember that I also wasn't scared when I head to get my blood drawn?' Nico slowly nodded.  
'Of course I remember that!' Hazel nodded slowly.  
'Nico, are you scared?' She softly asked.   
'Maybe,' Nico whispered back. Hazel chuckled.   
'I'll hold your hand.' Nico gave her a weird look.  
'That won't be necessary,' he answered (And, again, he realised it didn't sound very convincing). Hazel stroked his back. 'It's going to be fine, Nico.'   
After ten minutes of waiting, all of the scared, ready-to-be-vaccinated kids were ushered to a building in New Rome. Another centurion told them to form a line. Nico shuffled behind Hazel. As the line got shorter and Nico came closer to the room where he would get a shot, he got more nervous. At some point, Hazel turned around.   
'Nico, it really doesn't hurt. Shadow Travelling to Japan definitely is more painful, and you do that whenever you feel like eating Sushi.' Nico gave her a fake grin.  
'Oh, good.' He realised his voice squeaked. 'Yet, I am fine, really.' Hazel got that concerned look in her eyes - the one she Always got when someone was very clearly afraid. She grabbed his hand. Nico didn't try to pull it out of her grip.  
They reached the front of the line. Nico didn't feel so good. Hazel pulled him along, to the chair where Will was vaccinating people. He chuckled when he saw Nico. 'Come on, death prince, I'll...' Will was cut off by another doctor - one with huge muscles. It looked like he trained a lot, next to being a doctor. 'The girl was first. You should vaccinate her - I'll take the boy.' Nico felt like fainting.   
Will put his hand on Nico's shoulder. 'I'd rather do it my way. Hazel probably prefers that, too.' Hazel almost nodded her head of. 'Sir, I truly believe that my brother is better of being vaccinated by him than by you.'   
The doctor looked like he didn't understand it, but he went along anyway. Nico's hands were shaking while he sat in the chair, but he managed to hold his arm still while Will gave him a shot.   
Nico and Hazel walked out of the hospital together (Camp Jupiter did not have an infirmary, but a real hospital). Nico was still shaking, while Hazel tried to comfort him. 'Come on, Nico, it is done. Now you can't get sick anymore!' Nico nodded.   
'Yeah.'

Will carried Nico out of the bus. The son of Hades had fallen asleep halfway through the ride. Will didn't want to wake him up (Partly out of fear that Nico would not stop talking, or go to sleep that night). He was just tucking Nico into bed, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around. The great and radiant Apollo himself was standing in the room. 'Will!' he scream-whispered. 'Did everyone get vaccinated!?' Will nodded.  
'Why do you not ask Chiron?' he whispered, in a normal way. Apollo patted him on the head.  
'Because I wanted to ask my son.' Apollo turned around. The great, golden and shiny god appeared into the night, leaving Will and Nico inside the Hades cabin together.


	108. Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis and Aphrodite go on a trip again.

Artemis stood on the main square. She must have had a pretty scary expression on her face, because most gods who were on the square as well quickly ran past when they saw her. Today was the day that Artemis had to go on another 'date' (as Apollo insisted on calling it) with Aphrodite. She had no idea what the love goddess had planned this time.  
Aphrodite walked down the stairs, with her new Valentino bag over her shoulder. She was glad that she had won the coin flip that had decided who could pick the activity. Yet, she had really tried to find something that Artemis would also like. She got the tickets out of her bag. 'Artemis, darling...'  
'Please do not call me darling.'  
Aphrodite scoffed. 'Let me talk. I got tickets for the spa.' Artemis eyes went big. 'It is women's' only day!' Aphrodite quickly added. Artemis calmed down. She did not want to admit it, but she liked the spa - it was relaxed. Sometimes she hired of a spa with her hunters, so that they could have a nice day out of the forest, to calm down from a difficult hunt.  
She rolled her eyes. 'It is not the worst, I guess. When are we leaving?' Aphrodite, wanting to be kind, acted like she did not see the glint in Artemis' eyes.  
Aphrodite snapped her fingers. The two women appeared in front of her favorite spa - and even Artemis had to agree that it did not look like a bad place. The building had the form of a lotus flower. It seemed like there was a pool on top of the building. 'Come!'Aphrodite said. She grabbed Artemis by her hand. The love goddess pulled her through the neatly cleaned doors. Artemis just walked after her. Usually, she would have pulled her hand back and ran away whenever Aphrodite tried to pull her anywhere, but today she decided that that would not work.  
Aphrodite rang the bell on the counter. 'Hello?' She said. Artemis groaned.  
'They'll come, Aphrodite.' The love goddess rolled her eyes.  
'Well, it is not fast enough. It is like they do not even know who I am!'  
'That is because they do not.' Aphrodite turned her head around. She shot Artemis a venomous look.  
'Sarcasm, you...' she swallowed her words. 'Anyway, I would just like if if there was more...'  
At that moment, an employee came rushing to the front desk. 'Hello, ladies! Have you made a reservation?' Aphrodite showed the young man her tickets. 'I did.' He scanned them.  
'Perfect! Now, here are your wristbands... I suppose you two are friends, having a nice day out together?' Artemis and Aphrodite looked at each other. 'Not exactly.' The young man grinned.  
'Oh, girlfriends then? Or sisters?' Artemis tilted her head a little.  
'Sister will do.'  
'He was so confused,' Aphrodite mused, as they walked through the hallway to the changing rooms. Artemis shrugged. 'Hm. Have you planned anything else, or was the idea that we just go to this spa and see what happens?'  
'I thought we could just see what happens. Although the hot tubs here are really good.'  
'Subtle hint.' They reached the changing rooms. Artemis opened a cabin. 'Please do not take an hour and a half to change.' Aphrodite rolled her eyes.  
'Of course not, missy,' she snarled. She stepped into the changing room next to Artemis's and slammed the door shut.  
Ten minutes later, Artemis was banging on her door. 'Aphrodite! How long does it take to change out of your clothes and into a bathrobe with a bathing suit underneath?' Aphrodite looked around her cabin. There were five bikinis hanging on the wall. 'Aph-ro-di-te!' The love goddess grabbed the first one (which was just a regular black bikini), changed into it and stepped outside. 'Yeah, yeah, tiny drama queen.' Artemis was tapping her foot on the floor.  
'You know, I can distinctly remember you saying at least six times that we 'needed to hurry up' today.'  
'Yeah, to be on the main square!'  
'I was earlier then you!'  
'So what? I meant it so that we could be in the spa longer.' Artemis sighed.  
'Alright, alright.'  
Together, the goddesses walked towards the hot tub. Artemis eyes shot around. 'Are you one-hundred percent sure that it is women's' only day today?' Aphrodite nodded.  
'Ye-eah. Sadly enough.' Artemis did not react to that.  
Yet, the goddess of the hunt had to agree that the hot tub was really good. She basically felt her muscles relaxing as she stepped into it. 'Hmm. You know, some credits to you, Aphrodite - this feels really good.' Aphrodite stepped into the hot tub as well. 'I know. You basically just feel all of the hard work slowly dripping out of your muscles.' Artemis would have made a snippy remark about the 'hard work' Aphrodite had to do, but she did not. She was trying to relax.  
'Artemis!' Artemis shot up.  
'What?'  
'You were falling asleep! You cannot fall asleep in a hot tub, dummy!' Artemis rolled her eyes. Usually, when she was with her hunters, nobody cared if you fell asleep in a hot tub. Yet, she assumed that when there were strangers, it was weird to do so. Aphrodite got up. 'What are you doing?'  
'I am getting out of here. Apparently you cannot...' she swallowed her words again. 'Let's go to the massages, shall we?' Artemis very much wanted to know what she could not, but she did not ask about it. 'Whatever you want.' (If looks could kill, both goddesses would have been dead already, but the look Aphrodite shot her not-really-sister right now made Artemis feel as if her cells were really disintegrating).  
They got to the massage tables. Artemis stopped dead in her tracks. 'That one over there is a man.' Aphrodite bit her lip. 'So what? He won't be massaging you if you do not want that.' Artemis grumbled.  
'I'll see what they have to do in the room next to this.' Aphrodite wanted to say something truly catty back, but then the man left. 'See? He is gone.'  
'Alright, then,' Artemis hissed. They both sat down on a chair, shooting each other death glares like it was a competition.   
After six minutes, the women were arguing so loudly that the masseuses stopped massaging them. 'Maybe you two should cool of in the sauna before you come back,' one of them snapped. Artemis and Aphrodite got up. 'Maybe we should,' Artemis said in a cold tone. Aphrodite nodded. 'Yes, we really should.'   
On the way to the sauna, Aphrodite and Artemis did not speak. When they opened the door, they still did not speak. While they were sitting in the sauna, their attitudes were as cold as antarctica.   
'Because, Aphrodite, Fashion is not as important as food. That's why,' Artemis eventually broke the silence. Aphrodite bit her lip. 'What? That was not what it was about. We were talking about what made people more happy!'  
'So food and the wilde outdoors. Not fashion and manicures.' Aphrodite jumped up.   
'That is not what... AHHHH!' She screamed. She ran out of the sauna and jumped into the cold pool. Artemis stayed in the sauna.   
When she eventually got out and got into the cold pool, Aphrodite was nowhere to be found. She stayed in the bath for a few minutes, before getting up and stepping into another room.   
Her mouth fell open. Scones. Jam. Chocolate. Sandwiches. It was like heaven. Aphrodite was sitting next to the neat pile of food, with a cup of tea and a scone. 'Did you get this?' Artemis asked. 'Yeah,' was the answer. Artemis picked up a scone.   
'Thanks.' Aphrodite looked up.   
'What?'  
'Thanks. I am show gratitude. I like cake.' Aphrodite took a sip of tea.  
'... alright. My favorite is chocolate fudge, though.' Artemis stopped mit-bite.   
'Mine too...' Aphrodite and Artemis looked at each other. It felt like a cheesy movie. Their eyes grew wide, as they finally realised how similar they really were. They slowly stood up. They fell into each other's arms, as they realised how lovely they we...  
'... In the seventies. I like cake with chocolate chips much better now.' (Scratch everything I said. Sorry, I do not know what came over me). Aphrodite huffed. 'Alright.' They ate their cakes in silence. Yet, they managed to not argue for the rest of the day.  
They arrived back on Olympus. Artemis marched into her palace. She let her clothes lay on the ground - her servants would pick it up. She fell on her bed, flat on her face. 'I have never been so a-relaxed,' so muttered. 'I will take my hunters to the usual spa tomorrow.


	109. Drive-Through Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fast food monsters are the worst

'I am hungry.'  
'Piper, maybe this is a bad idea.'  
'Jay-jay, we are teenagers. We should be able to just get mcdonalds.' Piper laid just a pinch of charm speak into that sentence. Jason clacked his tongue. 'Alright.'   
They took a left turn, to the drive-thru. Jason was driving Sally Jacksons' car - he had borrowed it from her, to get to a quest quicker. She had been fine with it. Piper was sitting in the seat next to him. Her shirt was torn from a run-in with a harpy. She had a bandaged wound on her shoulder. Jason had a wound on his right arm.  
They reached the speaker. 'What do you want?' Piper tapped her cheek, thinking about that question. Meanwhile, Jason was speaking to an employee over the intercom. 'Welcome to Mcdonalds! What do you want?'   
'I want a big mac with a small cola, plus a side of fries. Have you decided yet, Piper?' Piper nodded. 'Yes, I would like a Vegetable deluxe and a coke, please.' Jason sighed.   
'Make that a big side of fries.' Piper giggled. She hugged Jason's arm. Jason rolled his eyes, but he still kissed the top of her head. He drove further, to the window. Their was an employee standing next to it. Behind him, people were trying to grab all the food. As soon as Piper and Jason saw the employee, they froze.  
'Hey, Jay, does that... employee have a tail and horns or is it just me?' Jason clenched his hands around the steering wheel. 'Oh, he has horns and a tail alright.' He slowly drove further. Rule one: Never let a monster see that you noticed them. Jason put a big, fake smile on his face. 'Um... is our food ready yet?' The look in the eyes of the monster was disheartening. He looked pretty hungry, and a big mac probably would not satisfy that hunger.   
'We are working hard on it!' he said. Piper looked out the other window, trying to see if there were more monsters hiding in the bushes. 'There is no one there, young lady,' The 'employee' said. Okay, so there is definitely something in those bushes, Piper thought.   
After fifteen minutes, the food was still not done. For some reason, there were no other cars lining up behind them. Jason wondered whether the monster did something about it. 'Let's just go,' Piper whispered. 'We should have done that earlier.' Jason nodded. He did not say anything to the employee - he just drove away.   
Bad call. The monster jumped over the counter and landed on the hood of the car. Jason and Piper screamed. Jason hit the pedal. The car went faster, but the thing held on. 'Alright, Alright, We have to...' The back window broke. Jason stopped the car, which caused it to drive into the bushes. Both demigods jumped out, through the door on the drivers side.  
Jason and Piper were shaking. They had a few new bruises and wounds. Yet, there was no time - the monster was still somewhere there. They tried to run away, which did not go very well. Piper put a few wobbly steps. 'Auw! I think I hurt my ankle.' Jason bit his lip.   
'No, no, no,' He whispered. At that moment, the thing appeared in front of them. It had Wings. Jason took a few steps back, while pulling Piper along. 'You are a... dragon!' he said, mildly hysteric. The dragon laughed. 'Yup. What gave you the hint?' Piper wobbled on her ankles.   
'The amazing, strong way you took our order, Sir!' she charmspoke. The dragon slowly nodded his head, like he was in trance. Piper expected that; Dragons were despicably easy to charm. 'Also, how you caught our car! That was so wonderful! I have never seen anything like it!' The dragon grinned, displaying a row of sharp teeth. Piper fluttered her eyelashes. 'Yet, it must be very tiresome, hunting people down to eat them. Why don't you take a nap? You deserve it so much!'   
The dragon slowly fell to the ground. His eyes were half closed. 'Wait. I first wanted to eat you...' Piper heard Jason swallow. She got closer to the dragon, hoping his monster-senses could not feel her heart stomping. 'Shh. We'll wait right here. Just take a nap, close your eyes...' She said. Her voice went softer and softer, until it almost sounded like she was singing a lullaby. Jason started to feel drowsy as well. Even the curb seemed soft.   
Piper stopped whispering when she was sure the dragon was asleep. She stood up. 'Jason, wake up. We gotta go.'   
jason shook his head. 'Uh, yeah. Yet, um… the car is a pretty broken.'   
Piper turned around. 'Uh, yeah. There is a bus stop nearby, I saw it when you drove over to the drive thru. That bus should take us… somewhere. We can send Leo to fix up the car or something. You can will the mist to make sure nobody sees the broken car, right?'   
Jason did exactly that. Luckily, Piper Always carried money on her, so they could step into the first bus that came by. 'This should take us to some station, which is probably connected to New York central station, because we are in the area,' Piper stated. Jason just nodded. He was still a little mellow from the charmspeak.  
Miraculously, they made it to a small trainstation without being attacked. As soon as they stepped out of the bus, Pipers' stomach growled. Jason sighed. 'Maybe they have something vegetarian to eat, and also something for me.'  
They cautiously walked over to a small food stand. 'The seller does not look like a monster,' Jason muttered. Piper shrugged. 'Better be careful, though.' She smiled at the employee. 'Hello, ma'am! Can I have a sandwich with egg salad?' Jason looked at the menu.   
'I want a sandwich with chicken.' The employee nodded slowly.  
'Uh-huh. Alright...' She started to make the sandwiches, but it did not seem like she was focusing on it. Piper looked at Jason, who was studying his fingernails. They were both starting to feel uncomfortable under the employees' stare.   
After four minutes of slow sandwich-making and staring, Piper squished Jason's' hand. 'Um, you know what ma'am, we are not hungry. Bye!' Quickly, they darted away. 'What was she staring at?' she asked Jason. Jason looked down at his arms. His gaze wandered to Pipers' ankle, which started to swell. 'Maybe… she does not understand why we are bruised all over.' Piper sighed. 'You know, that might just be it.'   
Piper wished she had not tried to run. Her ankle hurt a lot and started to look like a particularly big prune. She put a few steps to a train that (Thank the gods) went to New York city, but it did not go very well. 'Hey, Jason...' Jason did not ask any questions. He picked her up, bridal-style, and carried her to the train. Piper did not even complain. 'New York city, here we come,' she muttered. It sounded very fed up and not at all I-am-a-teenager-who-goes-to-the-city-on-my-own-like.   
Their was a small run in with what turned out to be a lost ghost on the train, but there were no other noteworthy happenings. Jason carried Piper of the train. Both of them were tired and hungrier than ever. 'One more try to get lunch?' Piper asked. She pointed at a Subway. Jason nodded. 'Let's do it.'  
They stepped into the subway. While they were waiting in line, Jason put Piper to her feet. 'Just a few steps. Otherwise it will look weird,' he whispered. Piper nodded. Her feet hurt like crazy, but she thought she could manage a few steps.   
As soon as they got the attention of an employee, he grabbed a Phone. 'Hello, police? I think there might be two criminals in my store!' he shrieked. Piper felt like screaming, because she was hungry, tired, her ankle hurt and now the police was being called on her and Jason.   
Jason pulled her out of the store. 'Let's find our way out of here before the police comes. I can fly us to camp...' His voice died. Piper shrugged.  
'We could also go to Sally's house.'  
'I ruined her car, though.'  
'We are going to send Leo to fix it and we have to tell it anyway. Better get it over with.' Jason pursed his lips. '... Alright then.'  
With every cop they saw walking through the station, Piper felt a twinge of anxiety. Yet, two kids are not easy to spot in the crowd of New York central station, so they got out. Jason picked Piper up again. They flew to Sally's house, who threw the door open the moment she thought she saw two teenagers flying by.   
'I am happy you two are still in one piece,' she told them, as soon as Piper and Jason were done explaining why Pipers' ankle looked like a purple golf ball and why they did not use Sally's car. She had given them a cup of tea and had treated Pipers' ankle, and, thank this goddess, a decent meal. Jason fumbled with his teacup. 'Thanks for everything, misses Jackson,' Jason said out loud. Sally smiled.  
'It is alright, dear. Just make sure you bring your own food next time.


	110. The Haunted Son Of Hades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico is haunted - what must he do?

It was only slightly weird to step into the eating pavilion like this. Nico sat down at the Apollo table, as he Always did, ordered some food, also as he Always did. Yet, he did not offer anything to Hades. When Will saw that, he already realised that this was going to be a long evening.  
Kara leaned closer to Austin. 'Neeks gives off weird vibes today, doesn't he?' she whispered. Austin nodded. 'Yes, he surely does. Truly a peculiar occurrence on this otherwise wonderful Midweek evening.' Kara rolled her eyes.   
'He feels like death and more than usual, Austin. You could also say that instead of that weirdly poetic sentence.' Will put his utensils down, and sighed. 'Come, Nico,' he softly said. 'Let's go to the Hades table.' Nico shrugged.   
'Alright.' They got up and walked away (Austin and Kara did not really care. Nico and Will often walked away to talk about something - usually stuff that gave them the creeps or personal stuff). Will acted like he did not see the camp directors staring at them, like they Always did when they changed tables halfway through. He and Nico sat down. 'Say, Nico. I noticed that you did not offer anything to Hades today. Do you want to tell why?' Nico took a deep breath - one that not mean good things.  
'Alright, this will sound really weird, but I am haunted.' Will let that sink in. A lot of crazy things happened with Nico, but this was probably the high point. 'Uh... by inner demons or by actual demons?'  
'It is not a demon, but a regular ghost...'  
'How did it happe...'  
'Let me talk. I was just walking around by the edge of the forest in my free time, when I saw something ranting to a dryad. The dryad was clearly as annoyed as that an employee who has to deal with an entitled person. When I walk by, the something turned around. It starts giggling and tells me that I am just the person she seeks. She wanted something vague that I forgot, she got angry, and, well, I am haunted now.'  
Will did not know if he should laugh or be serious. 'Do you know what to do now?' Nico shrugged. 'Go to the Underworld and ask dad, I guess. I do not know what else to do.' He rolled his eyes. 'Will you shut up? I am trying to eat!' he muttered. Will raised his eyebrows. 'To the ghost. She keeps whining about customer service or something.'   
Will had no idea what to do with that piece of information, so he just took another bite of potato. At that moment, Dionysus and Chiron got up to make the announcements, so there was no more talking about being haunted by ghosts.   
After diner, Will and Nico walked to the Hades cabin together. 'You know, I understand why people go insane because of this. Just shut your mouth, lady!' Nico mentioned, as they walked through the door of the Hades cabin. 'Spooky Scary Skeletons' played - The trigger that made it play whenever someone opened the door was still not fixed. Nico pressed a button by the door. A small door opened.   
'That is new,' Will remarked. Nico nodded.  
'It is an instant way to the Underworld.' They got through. 'If you do not want to walk, you can Always stop haunting me,' Nico muttered, while they stepped onto the staircase.   
The way was, surprisingly, not very long. Will assumed it worked with a sort of distance-shortening magic. They walked straight into Nico's room in the Underworld. Will saw that the white lilies he had knocked over a few weeks earlier where put back on the nightstand. Fred the hydra was sleeping on Nico's bed. Nico opened his door and stepped out onto the hallway. Immediately, someone walked up to him from the left.   
'Nico, we might have done something to anger Hades.' Nico rolled his eyes.  
'Wow, Castor, it is not like you guys do that every single time.' He kept silent for a few seconds. 'So, what did you do?' Nico realised he was smiling.  
'We kind of started to give tours around the palace to some people in Elysium. As a joke! of course...' Castor answered. Nico grinned. 'I told you that it would be hilarious.' His smile faded. 'I have to go to the throne room anyway.' He walked further through the hallway, with Will and Castor behind him.   
They stepped into the Throne room. The imperial march played on the stereo's - that also was not taken down yet. Nico's expression got even darker - Will assumed that the ghost that was haunting him had whined about the loud music. Will looked around for a few minutes. Hades was sitting on his throne. The throne next to his was empty (Oh, right, spring happened a few days ago, Will remembered. It was so cold that he almost did not notice it). Silena, Beckendorf and Lee were standing in front of his throne, clearly getting a talking to by Hades. The god of the Underworld stopped ranting at them when he saw his son.  
'Nico. Are you here to defend these clowns? Because it won't work.' Nico shook his head.   
'No, no, that is not why I am here. Although showing people from Elysium around here sounds pretty funny... but, ehm, I am being haunted.' The demigod ghosts looked like they had already noticed that. Hades nodded slowly. 'I see. So the lady who is standing beside you is not... another new friend?' Hades said the last words through clenched teeth. Nico shook his head.   
'Hades, no... Hm. I realise how weird that was. But, no, she is haunting me.' Hades sighed.   
'William solace?' Will shot up from his deep demigod thoughts (Which is a special kind of deep thoughts). 'Huh? I mean... What were you saying, lord Hades?'  
'I only called your name. Yet, can you see the ghost that is standing next to my son?' Will looked at Nico. For a second, he thought he saw an outlining of something, but that faded away as quickly as it showed up. 'No, lord Hades.' Hades stood up.   
'Hm. We'll see. Now, Nico...'   
'SHUT YOUR MOUTH!' Nico screamed at the top of his lungs. His eyes grew wide. 'Oh, uh, that was not meant for you, dad. She just kept talking about being treated badly or something.' Hades clenched his jaw. 'Hm. Come here.' Nico took a few steps closer. Hades put a hand on his shoulder, and another one on his forehead. After a few seconds, a figure shimmered next to Nico. Will gasped lightly. The figure slowly turned into a regular ghost woman (Well, a regular ghost woman with the 'can-I-speak-to-the-manager' haircut).   
Hades tried to let go of Nico, but his son suddenly hugged him. Hades eyes grew big - he looked surprised. 'Awh,' Will heard Castor softly say next to him. Will had to agree. It looked really 'awh.' He wondered if any of Hades had ever been hugged by one of his children before.   
Nico let go of his father and quickly jogged back to Will. He had a slightly weird look on his face. 'I have no idea why I did that,' he whispered to Will. Will giggled.   
'It looked really sweet,' he whispered back. Nico groaned. Meanwhile, Hades shook his head and walked over to the ghost woman. 'Why were you haunting my son?' he demanded. The woman rose her chin. 'I want to know why I have been treated so horribly. ' She stopped talking, clearly expecting Hades to say something. When he didn't, she scoffed.   
'What a horrible service! Are you not going to ask what my problem is!?' She screeched. Hades rolled his eyes and sat down on his throne. 'No.' The woman straightened her shoulders.   
'Well, I was just going on about my day when I fell down the stairs, and then, Poof! I was dead. Nobody even asked me if I wanted to! Some winged thing was hanging next to me, but when I asked what was going on, he just left! Well, horrible service, already. I walked out of my house. I asked other ghosts what was going on, and they just said that I had to find a way to the Underworld. Horrible employees you got, I tell you. After an hour or so, which is a way too long waiting time, some guy with a silly hat and staff appeared next to me. He offered to give me a map to the Underworld. I asked him if he could bring me there himself. He told me no and said that there were more people who needed service to go to Hades. Well, they would not need it if they knew how horrible said service was!'  
The woman stopped for a moment. Hades opened his mouth to step in, but she cut him off: 'After that, I wandered around until I reached that stupid forest with its stupid small buildings. There, some ditzy girl asked me what was going on. I told her exactly what I thought of all of this. Then he came along and brought me here. Now, I demand that something is done about this!' She reached her arm up, and waved her finger around.  
Hades looked absolutely dumbstruck. 'That… that is literally just how it works.'  
'Change that, then!'  
'It works for thousand if not millions of people.' The woman pulled open her mouth again, but she was interrupted by Silena. 'Lady, that is absolutely true!' She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled dazzlingly. 'Yet, they' (She spread her arms and waved around the room) 'do not know that. The professional on this specific case, that should by all means be fixed, is currently back to earth for another important case. We will call you back when she has arrived back!'   
The woman was silent for some time. 'Excellent. You see, this girl knows what she is talking about. The rest of you could learn something!' Lee patted her shoulder.   
'You are right. Now, I will bring you to our waiting room, called the Fields Of Asphodel.' Lee grabbed her arm and lead her out of the throne room.  
Hades sighed deeply. 'What was that?' He asked Silena. She shrugged.  
'Persephone is the one who deals with entitled dead people. No one else does it, so she is by all means the She has gone to the earth for other important things, but she will return to deal with them. So I did not lie!' Hades nodded - kind of.  
'Interesting. Maybe I should ask her about it.' Beckendorf laid a hand on Selena's shoulder.  
'You have not had any situation like this since you started this job?' He asked. Hades shrugged.   
'Maybe. There are so many people passing through here, I cannot remember each and every one of them.'   
Nico linked his arm through Wills'. 'Let's go. They'll be talking for a while.' Will nodded. His head started to spin from everything. 'I never knew there were even entitled… clients, so to say, in the Underworld.' Nico shrugged.   
'Guess such an attitude never dies.'


	111. The Musical Debate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dionysus and Apollo are causing havoc around the world, trying to figure out who the god of musical must be.

Piper noticed that it was awfully quiet during the announcements. Usually, Dionysus would say something in a way that Chiron did not like, and Chiron would comment what was really going to happen. Right now, she heard only Chiron talking. She looked up and noticed that Dionysus was not sitting at the head table or reading announcements.  
Usually, Piper truly couldn't care less whether their camp leader was actually in the camp or not. Yet, her demigod senses told her that there was something else going on than just Zeus calling everyone to the mountain for a meeting.  
After dinner, she stood up and walked over to Chiron. 'Say, Chiron, why is Dionysus not here?' Chiron turned to her. 'I did not know you campers cared about what he was doing.' Piper shrugged. Chiron chuckled. 'Do you smell drama, Piper?' She shrugged and nodded at the same time. Chiron sighed. 'Well, the situation truly is dramatic. A few days ago, Eris casually mentioned that she wanted to know who the god of musical was - Dionysus or Apollo.' Chiron sighed. (Piper wondered whether Eris truly 'casually' asked it).  
'They both heard that and they have been bickering and arguing about it for the last few days,' Chiron continued. Piper could not help it; she started laughing. 'What the heck?' Chiron looked like he did not find that very funny at all.  
'It is a problem, Piper. Basically everyone on Olympus has tried to stop them, to no avail. Even interferences from the muses or Ariadne have no effect.' Piper slowly nodded, more to keep from laughing than to show Chiron that she was understanding the issue.  
'I guess it is pretty bad, then.'  
'You could say that.'  
'Do you know what exactly is going on that everyone believe they should stop?' Chiron shook his head.  
'No, but I assume they are neglecting their duties.'  
'Assume? Dionysus's not here.'  
Chiron bit his lip. 'That's true. Now excuse me, Piper, I need to take care of something.' He trotted away, but stopped after a few steps. 'Piper, I would appreciate it if you could not tell this to the entire camp, good?' Piper nodded.  
'Understood.'  
Piper yawned. She suddenly felt tired; maybe she would just go to sleep early tonight. She started slowly walking to the campfire. Halfway through, Percy caught up to her. 'Hey Piper.'  
'Hello.' Together, they walked further. Percy yawned as well.  
'It is pretty weird, but I am so tired, while I wasn't only three minutes ago.' Piper looked at him.  
'Really weird. It is the same thing with me.' Percy stopped smiling.  
'I'll bet you thousand dollars that that means something is going to happen.'  
Piper pursed her lips. 'Do you know what is happening on Olympus right now?' Percy nodded.  
'Yes. I heard a few crabs talk about it. You mean the stuff with Apollo and Mr. D, right?' Piper nodded back. She giggled again. 'Somehow, I find it funny and scary at the same time.' Percy chuckled.  
'Yeah.' He yawned again. 'But I am so... tired...' Pipers' eyelids started to grow really heavy, too. She slowly closed them, as she saw Percy fall the floor.  
Neither of them had any idea how long they were asleep for. Yet, when she woke up, Piper felt like she was laying on a cloud. That was because she was actually laying on a cloud; an Olympian one, to be more precise. A woman sat in a chair next to her bed, knitting. She jumped out of bed. 'Where am I!? Who are you!?' The woman calmly put her needles and wool down. 'You're on Olympus, in the grand palace of the nine muses. I am a servant,' she answered. Piper blinked.  
'Why am I here?'  
'The ladies will explain that. Now, there is a bathroom with some clothes.'  
Fifteen minutes later, Piper and Percy were both sitting in the luxury dinner hall, with a plate full of food in front of them. Percy took a bite of pancake. Piper opened her mouth to say something, but she closed her mouth again when nine beautiful women walked into the dining room. Piper stood up and bowed. After a few seconds, Percy did the same thing.  
The tallest of the muses stepped forward. 'Good morning, demigods. Have you slept well?' She asked. 'My name is Calliope.' She pointed at her eight sisters. 'And these are the other muses.' Percy nodded. 'We figured.' Calliope raised one eyebrow.  
'Hm. I assume you have heard of the current conflict?'   
'You mean Apollo and Dionysus acting slightly crazier than usual?' Piper answered. One of the muses giggled. Calliope turned around, still with one eyebrow raised. It got silent again. 'That is one way to put it. Now...'  
'Wait, wait, let me guess, now you want us to clean up the mess!' Percy said. Piper swallowed. more muses started laughing now. 'Uh, what he means to ask is if we are expected to help.' Calliope had a small smile on her face. She quickly got a serious expression on her face again.   
'You're right, Piper Mclean...'  
'You too, Percy!' One of the muses whispered. Percy bit on his lip, trying not to laugh. Calliope scoffed.  
'Girls! We have a serious case on our hands, no matter how stupid it might seem on a base level. Both Apollo and Dionysus have been neglecting their other duties. We need to do something about it.' Piper sighed.  
'Lady Calliope...'  
'Just Calliope is fine.'  
'Calliope, we understand that something needs to be done. Yet, we do not understand what we can do about it when none of you or Princess Ariadne have been able to do anything about it.' Calliope smiled at her. It was not a sarcastic smile, like most gods showed to demigods - it was a smile that showed compassion.   
'We need someone to get to them directly. They have been refusing to let anybody into their bubble of arguments and... other things.'  
'As she said, they refuse to let us in, so we have no idea what they are doing,' a muse remarked. Calliope nodded. 'Exactly. Yet, we think they won't pick up on your aura's, which will give the two of you the chance to sneak into their... whatever it may be.' Piper and Percy nodded.  
'Naturally, but can we at least get directions?' Calliope raised her eyebrow again.   
'Of course. We have prepared lunch for you two as well.' Percy did not answer (But Piper noticed that he looked like he had to process the information that the gods was actually trying to help them).   
The muses let them finish their breakfast before they magically transported Piper and Percy to... some theatre, somewhere in a country with a strange language. Piper shivered. 'It is cold here.' Percy looked around.  
'Sometimes I wonder why mythological beings Always pick such weird places to be in,' he remarked. Piper put her arms around her body. 'Hm-hm. Let's get inside, I am freezing!'   
They stepped into the small building. Luckily, it was warmer in there. It seemed like it was completely abandoned, except for vague sounds coming from the Theatre hall. Piper let go of her body. 'Do we wait here until something happens, or are we going straight to the point?' she asked. Percy stared at her. 'Straight to the point, obviously.' Piper nodded.  
'Yeah,' She agreed. They walked past the counter, which had a thick layer of dust on it. Piper let her eyes go around the room. The entire theatre was old. A few old signs hung on the wall, some broken in half or without any letters. Curtains covered the windows. A few moldy chairs stood by the walls. And there was dust absolutely everywhere.  
The doors to the main theatre hall were closed and also covered in dust, but they were not locked. While Piper pushed the door open, Percy coughed. 'Why would they choose such an... old and dirty place? They're gods, they could have gotten in everywhere!' Piper shrugged.   
'I do not think we understand the gods that good. Of course, they also do not understand us, but still.' She threw the doors open.   
This room was not dust covered or moldy. Because it was not a room. Piper and Percy stepped straight into a valley. Percy bit his lip. 'We need to make sure they do not accidently blast us to pieces when they see us.' Piper pulled katropris out of its holder.   
'Hm-hm. There is a part of me that finds this amazing. This is some really strong magic.' Percy shrugged. 'I mean yeah, we are talking about two Olympian gods.' They walked further into the valley. Out of nowhere, some cheesy music started to play. Piper started to feel giddy and happy; she felt like dancing and singing. 'Oh no,' she whispered, 'there is actually magic affecting us.' Percy sighed dramatically.   
'I feel it, right? We need help.' Piper laughed.   
'Well, at least we made it over here - we got further than everyone else!' What are you saying? she thought. I do not want to talk in musical speech! That is worse than that rhyme curse of the Apollo cabin! She groaned. Now I start to think in musical speech too. Beside her, Piper heard Percy humming a tune from Hamilton. 'We are being affected,' she muttered to him.  
It took a few seconds until she realised that she did not say that like she was on stage. Percy blinked a few times. 'Hey, you said that normally...'  
'What in Tartarus are you two doing here!?' They heard behind them. Percy groaned.   
'You also good morning, Apollo. Nice musical magic that turns you into a zombie you got here.' Piper turned around. Apollo looked like he wanted to say something back to Percy. She quickly cut him off. 'Lord Apollo! I am so, so sorry we trespassed! Yet, we just... needed to know about your amazing musical skills!' she said, with just a little bit of charmspeak.   
She thought Apollo would start rambling anyway, but instead he got happy. Really happy. 'So you do think that I should be the god of Musical, and not Dionysus?' he yelled out. He sounded so hopeful Piper started to feel a little bad. 'Well, no, but...' Apollo's happy expression immediately disappeared.  
'Oh. So you think he's better, huh?' Piper shook her head.   
'No, no! We are just disoriented!' She blinked. Percy quickly stepped in.  
'Apollo, where's Dionysus?' he asked. Apollo looked like he could cry and get mad at the same time. 'Why is that important?' his eyes got big. 'Are you two here to stop us?'   
'Uh...' Piper realised there was no right answer. Apollo would notice lying, but saying the muses send them would probably end in either being thrown out of the theatre or having to participate in a musical.   
Luckily, Dionysus appeared at that very moment (Almost like this was a bad film musical or something. Have any of you noticed that people just appear in those stories whenever writers have written themself into a corner? Of course, I would not know how that is, *Cough*). 'What's going on?' he asked. Apollo waved at Percy and Piper.  
'These two are planning something.' Dionysus tilted his head.  
'Demigods planning something? I do not know if I should be surprised or not,' he answered. Percy sighed deeply. He had not even heard the deep reasons for the conflict, and he was already done. 'We have been send by Olympus. We need to break up your stupid conflict about who must be the lord of musical,' he blurted out, before he could really think about whether that was a good idea or not.   
Apollo and Dionysus both looked confused. 'Why?' Apollo asked. Dionysus rolled his eyes.  
'We are here in this magical dimension especially so that there will be no chaos in the regular one.' Piper sighed. Maybe she should just get a notepad to write this all down, because mythology was still confusing her sometimes. 'Yes, but things are still happening in the other dimension. Without the two of you.'  
'Has anything extreme happened in our absence?'   
'Not yet, but I think they have send us here to make sure nothing bad will happen. I assume because without you two the Olympian is unstable,' Percy answered before Piper could say something.  
Apollo shrugged. 'We first need to figure this out.' Piper sighed.  
'Alright, alright. Calliope won't be that angry anyways. Just, where is the exit?' The looked Piper then saw on the gods' faces was not something she thought was a good thing. 'There is no exit. That is why gods cannot get in - because they'd try to meddle with us to much. You two are stuck here until we have settled this,' Dionysus answered.

The gods were nice enough to give the demigods something to eat when it was time for dinner. 'So, what do we do now? We have tried threatening, begging, asking nicely, logic, reasoning, the opposite of logic, annoying them to death. What else can we try so we can get out of here?' Percy asked, with his mouth full of chinese take-off. Piper shrugged, and this time she meant it. She honestly started to think that they would just have to wait until Dionysus and Apollo had settled their argument. 'I dunno. Have we tried putting on our own musical to outshine them and assert dominance?' she said.  
She had not said that so that Percy could take it seriously, but he did it anyway. 'You know what, Piper, that might be our only option soon.' A group of rabbits waddled past them. 'And soon might just be right now.'  
While still eating chinese take-off, they slowly padded over to where they assumed the gods were. 'Now that I think about it, they are really far gone to be eating chinese take-off,' Percy mentioned, with his mouth full of food. Piper nodded. 'Uh-huh.'  
After fifteen minutes of wandering around, they found Apollo back. He was letting some flowers sing. 'Hey kids! Want to sing along?' He said. Piper sighed.   
'Alright, so now we are starting with personal attacks,' she whispered to Percy, while Apollo sung along to a silly tune. Percy shrugged. 'I believe they have been mad the whole time, but we really have to get them out of this.' he shuddered before he put an obviously fake smile on his face.  
'Apollo! What are you doing today?' he chirped. Piper felt like throwing up. Percy had said only one line, but she already felt squeezy. Apollo clapped in his hands. 'Let's sing and dance!' Percy looked like he would rather do literally anything else, but he went along anyway.   
Piper could not look at it any longer. 'I am going to check out what Dionysus is doing.' The look Percy gave her could only be described as pitiful. Piper turned around and walked away, while Percy started singing the main theme from the Sound of Music.   
After another ten minutes of wandering around, she found Dionysus. He seemed to be still somewhat in his right mind - he could probably shield himself better from madness. 'What in the name of the heavens are you doing here, Mclean? I thought we told you two not to intervene.'  
Piper rolled her eyes, but if Dionysus was going to be a drama queen, she would be a drama queen right back. 'That was hours ago. Right now, you two have gone too far with this competition!' She mused. The god narrowed his eyes.   
'You are not the one to decide that, missy!' he answered. 'This is a feud between me and my older brother, bless his soul!' At this point, Piper did not know if he was kidding or not. She decided that assuming he had just gone crazy was easier, and she said:  
'Oh, is that what thy thinks? This feud has gone out of hand! This is not between thy and thy brother any longer - I, my kin and everyone who lives on this miserable planet is being affected! My family is in high danger. Stop this horrible dual! Make peace! Let me and my loved ones flourish! I shall not take this abuse any longer. We have to survive on scraps! My sisters have not laughed in days! Come back to the normal world, and take thy brother with thou!'  
Piper had no idea what she had just blurted out, but it sounded really dramatic. Dionysus seemed to think so too. He was staring at her with big eyes. After a few seconds, he shook his head and blinked a couple times. 'Piper Mclean, were you really spurting nonsense to try and out-drama me?' Piper nodded.  
'I was, and I will not step back to do it agai...' She was cut off.  
'Stop it already. I understand, I was going crazy. Apollo and I need to come to an agreement.' Piper blinked. 'Well, that was very sudden, but I am fine with it.' She shook her head. 'Also, I will need to get the drama out of my system, somehow.'   
Together, they decided to go and seek where Percy and Apollo were presumably still dancing around. 'How come that space is not concrete in this place?' She asked.   
'It's the dimension. Somehow, the space you are in constantly shifts, but the people you are with stay with you.' He looked at a stage with folded, singing napkins. He got a weird glint in his eyes. Piper assumed that she might need to come up with random overly dramatic speech again.   
Luckily, she did not. They found Apollo and Percy in time. Percy and Apollo were sitting under a tree. Piper did not know how he got Apollo to stop swaying around, but it is not like she wanted to know that. When Apollo saw Dionysus, he got up. 'I have just realised that we should stop this,' he said. Dionysus nodded.   
'I have heard as much.' Apollo smiled.   
'You know, maybe we should just share the art of musical. I the soundtrack and you the story and acting.' Dionysus nodded.  
'Perfect.' Apollo pulled his brother into a hug. Dionysus laid his head against his shoulder.   
After they were done, Percy and Piper did not rest until they were all out of the drama zone (As they decided to call it). Apollo went back to Olympus. The others went back to camp halfblood. As soon as they arrived, Piper and Percy fell onto the grass. 'Ugh.'  
'Never again?'  
'Never again!'   
Chiron came trodding by. 'Piper! Percy! I was so worried!' He picked them both up. 'Dionysus is back, and I heard from the muses that Apollo has arrived on Olympus as well. What did you do?' Percy yawned. 'Chiron, can we take a nap first?' Chiron smiled. He was tired as well - he had done almost nothing but worry for the last few days. 'Of course, Percy. Of course.'


	112. Playing Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth feels sad. Chiron wishes to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a small one shot about little Annabeth playing chess with Chiron. Have fun.

'Checkmate!' Annabeth cheered. Michael sighed.  
'Yep. Well, I guess you have won this round as too,' he said. He took a sip of water. 'Just like the five rounds before.' Annabeth clapped in her hands.   
'Am I good at chess?' Michael laughed. He could not be angry at his little sister for long.  
'You are great at chess, Annabeth. You are have the true strategizing skills of an Athena kid!' Annabeth giggled.  
'Yay! You know, my daddy actually told me once that I was better at chess than he was!' her smile faded. Yet, my stepmother says I am Always cheating. A tear rolled down her cheek. Michaels' smile faded as well. It had gone so well - Annabeth had not talked or seemingly even thought about her father for a few days, and now everything came back again: Her stepmother, the spiders, the mission, Thalia turning into a tree. Annabeth started sobbing more violently.  
There was only one thing you could do about that: Get Chiron to help her. Michael was a strong dude - strong enough to pick up his seven-year-old sister and carry her to the Big House.   
He knocked on the door, but did not wait for an answer before getting inside. 'Chiron...' Chiron already stood up and picked Annabeth out of his arms. The girl started crying even louder. 'Thanks, Michael. What is your next class?'  
'Archery.'  
'Tell the entire group that there is extra free time.' Michael nodded and walked off, while Chiron walked to the living room upstairs with Annabeth in his arms.   
He put her down in a comfy chair. He sat down in his wheelchair, beside her. 'So, Annabeth, what is the problem?'   
'Well I - was just play-ing chess w-with Michael and then I tho-thought about my...' She stopped talking and started screaming. Chiron pulled her off the chair and hugged her tightly. 'It's okay, Annabeth. Just cry it out.'   
'And… then Thalia...'  
'Shh. You can explain it later. Just cry it out now.'  
While Annabeth was still crying in Chirons' lap, Dionysus stepped into the living room.  
'What is going on?'  
'Just make her a cup of tea.'  
'What? But I wanted to...'  
'It was not a question.' Chiron tried to not show surprise when Dionysus actually listened to that and made Annabeth a cup of tea, with a biscuit, before walking out of the Big House.   
After seven minutes, Annabeth stopped howling loudly and slowly started to silently sob. Chiron stroked her hair. 'There, there. Good, Annabeth, calm down now.' Annabeth did. She got out of Chiron's' lap and climbed back into the comfy chair. Chiron handed her her tea. She was still shaking, but she took a small sip.  
'Good. Now, what was going on? You were you doing?'  
'I was playing chess with Michael, and then…' another tear ran down her cheek.   
'Why don't we play chess as well? You can tell me your problem while we play,' Chiron suggested, trying to find a way to distract her so she would not start crying again. Luckily, Annabeth nodded.   
While Chiron got the pieces and the board out of the closet, Annabeth moved to the massive wooden table in the middle of the living room. 'Why is there a living room upstairs? Can't you sit downstairs?' she asked. Chiron chuckled.  
'It is often easier to sit upstairs when I and the other camp directors have to talk about something important, because there are less people who can eavesdrop up here.' Annabeth nodded - she understood that. She giggled - it felt like she was in a secret hide-out, like the one her siblings from the Athena cabin had built in the forest.  
Chiron out the chess board down and started to put the pieces in the right place. 'Do you want to play with the white or the black pieces?' he asked.  
'White. Those can start first, right?' Annabeth asked. Chiron nodded.  
'Yes, yes. Here. So.' Annabet made the first move. 'That was quick.'  
'I Always start a game like this.'  
'Oh, so you have a strategy.' Annabeth shrugged.  
'I think so. My mom is the goddess of stratezie, right?'  
'Strategy. Yes, she is. Yet, Annabeth, can you tell me again what was going on?' Chiron asked, while he also made a move. Annabeth looked at the board. 'I suddenly thought of my families again.' She made a move.  
'Your families?'  
'Yes. My dad and stepmother, but also about Thalia and Luke. Thalia and Luke are my real family,' she added. Chiron nodded slowly, while making another move.   
'And what were you thinking about, while you thought of them?' Annabeth's' lips started quivering, but she did not start to cry. She moved her tower.   
'About how I miss my dad and Thalia, but my stepmom is gone and Luke is here,' she muttered. That was some new information. Chiron moved his queen. 'You miss your biological father?' Annabeth gave him a look like she did not understand what he just said. 'You miss your actual father?' she nodded.  
'Yes. He taught me how to play chess.' Chiron already realised that that was not the only reason that Annabeth missed him, but he did not say anything. Annabeth moved another piece.  
'Yet, Luke is still alright, right? Do you still talk to him, or does he have new friends?' Annabeth nodded. 'Both. He still gives a goodnight kiss every day, but he also has new friends. But my new brothers and sisters also look after me!' Chiron nodded. He already knew that - not a lot of Athena kids would let a young child such as Annabeth walk around on her own. They took good care of her.  
'I know that, Annabeth. Michael brought you here, didn't he? Yet, what do you think would help to let go of the thoughts about your families?' Annabeth thought about that for a minute, while moving another piece. Chiron already felt that he was going to lose this round.   
'I don't know,' she said, while shrugging and shaking her head. He curls bobbed around her head and fell in front of her eyes. Chiron made another move. Annabeth threw one of his horses of the board. Chiron picked it up. 'Here. Do you think you could use a mascot?'  
'No, that won't work,' she said. She still grabbed the chess horse out of his hands. Chiron made another move. 'Maybe not. Yet, everytime you feel bad, you can talk about it to me, or to Luke if that is easier. Eventually, the thoughts will be there less. That might take a long, long time, but it will. Do you believe me?'   
Annabeth had stopped trying to find a smart move. She was looking at Chiron with big eyes. 'Yes,' she eventually said. They both made a few more moves without saying anything. 'But what if I feel really bad and I cry in the night?' Annabeth muttered.  
'The same thing counts.' He reached out to stroke her hair. 'I believe Luke will be fine with helping you at any hour of the day. I for sure do.' Annabeth smiled and nodded.  
'Yes. But what if it happens all the time?'  
'As I said, eventually it will get less difficult. And no matter how long it takes for you to get there, we'll help you, Chiron promised.' Annabeth nodded again.  
'Thanks Chiron.'  
'No problem, Annabeth.' Annabeth looked at the board for a few seconds, before she made another move.  
'Checkmate!' Chiron stared at the board. She was right - there were no more moves he could make without her slamming his king of the board. He clapped in his hands. 'Very well done, Annabeth. You really are good at chess and strategy.' She nodded.  
'Yes. Because I learned it from my dad.' she said it without tears in her eyes this time. Chiron smiled, when suddenly they heard a horn. 'Oh, it is time for dinner already. Come on, Annabeth, let's go get food.' Annabeth jumped up. When she walked out of the door, Chiron noticed that she was still holding the black horse.  
(And ten years later, Annabeth still had it, tucked away under her pillow. Although she knew it was nonsense, something made her feel like it did bring her luck. She had had it in her pocket the moment Percy kissed her underwater, after all).


	113. Snapped Your Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth and Percy are on a date when they are disturbed by leo.

Annabeth and Percy walked through New York city with their arms linked. Annabeth took a long, nice, refreshing breath (as far as breaths can be refreshing in one of the most polluted cities in the world). 'This would be out first dinner date where we are not interrupted by monster attacks or gods,' She remarked happily. Percy kissed her on the cheek.  
'It is.' Annabeth giggled and looked at her watch.  
'Oh, it is only eight 'O clock. We could still go to the cinema, or we could just take a walk in Central Park.'   
'Let's just go to Central Park. I don't believe there are currently any good movies running.' Annabeth laid her head on his shoulder. 'Good.'   
It was one of the first warm nights of the year. Percy Always thought of those nights as special. To celebrate it, he had asked Annabeth to go on a date with him, to make it extra special. It was a well-known fact that New York was a brooding place for monsters and not of course the Gods resided there. To put it simply: It was almost impossible to have a nice night out there without being attacked at least once. Yet, it seemed that Tyche was on the demigods' side today.   
Together, Percy and Annabeth walked through Central Park. At first sight, it was a peaceful night. Neither of them felt the presence of monsters in the bushes. There were no gods in disguise sitting on the benches. They did not get calls telling them that something was wrong with a family member or that Camp Half-blood was in a ton of trouble.  
Yet, there still was something. From behind a tree, none other than Leo Valdez was looking at them. Or rather, was paid to look at them by the Olympian gossip service, the group that took care of the gossiping magazines on Olympus and in the godly camps. The nymphs desperately wanted a piece describing the wonderful 'forbidden' relationship between the daughter of Athena and the son of Poseidon, so they gave Leo a nice amount to go and make sure Olympus was not starved for gossip that weekend.   
Annabeth was an experienced demigod. When she thought something was staring at them from behind the really big Oak tree, there was a great chance something was actually staring at them. She nudged Percy in his side. 'That really big Oak tree.' Percy nodded slowly and pretended like he was laughing about something she just said. 'Do you know what it is?'  
'No, but it feels passive.'  
'Than we just go ahead and look at what it is.' he rolled his eyes. 'I feel it too, now. Well, I guess this evening was getting boring anyways.' Annabeth nudged his shoulder again.  
'That was not funny.'  
'It kinda was,' Percy answered, as they walked towards the tree.   
Leo noticed that they noticed him. He did not wait for them to recognise him, but just ran away. The camera that was hanging around his neck bounced up and down (it kinda hurt a little tat). Yet, Percy and Annabeth had started to run after him. 'LEO! What the heck are you doing!?' he heard Percy yell behind him. He started to run faster.  
He made it to the street, but Tyche was apparently still on Annabeth and Percy's side, because the street lights jumped to red. Running into traffic in the middle of New York is a bad idea, even if two of the strongest demigods of the century are running after you.   
Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder. 'Leo, why were you spying on us!?' she bellowed.   
'Uh...' Leo truly did not know how he was going to explain that he was trying to snap a picture of them to sell to some nymphs on Olympus, all so that he could afford food at a restaurant with his siblings that Friday? 'I was just... walking here, trying not to bother you two because I probably have monsters trailing after me?' Annabeth raised on eyebrow.   
'Yeah, sure, Leo, why do you need a huge paparazzo camera for that?' Leo sighed. She had figured it out. Annabeth Chase always figured it out. He sighed. 'It's Nyssa's birthday this Friday and I really wanted to buy everyone dinner for it and they offered to...' Percy slapped him on the shoulder. 'OUCH!'  
'Good. It's fine now.' Annabeth let go of Leo, who stumbled back.   
'Please leave us alone on this one date. No, you know what, we'll pose for a picture.' Percy gave Annabeth a weird look. 'What? But...'  
'Why not? He probably sends them to the Olympian press and they'll eat everything up, even a picture of us just walking.' Percy sighed.  
'Alright, then.' He and Annabeth put a few steps back. Leo picked up the camera.   
'Guys, guys, don't look at the camera, it needs to be natural! Percy, put the arm lower… No, Annabeth, that smile looks fake...' He saw Annabeth angrily staring at him through the lens.   
'Well, maybe it does not look natural because it isn't exactly natural, have you thought of that?' She yelled. Leo rolled his eyes. 'Uhh, this is not worth it. Wait…' He ran over to them, planning to adjust a few things. Yet, he ran to fast. He bumped into Percy, who was slouching in place and did not see him coming. Percy put his arms around Leo to catch him. Leo put his arms around Percy to make sure he did not fall. Seeing them in their 'hug,' Annabeth started giggling.  
Yet, she was not the only who thought it looked cute. A random man came running at them. 'Hello! Are you two gentlemen dating?'   
'Eyh...' Leo muttered.  
'Great! Here are three tickets for dinner. They expect two men and an interviewer there in fifteen minutes and I do not feel like that today.' Percy started at the tickets that just got pushed into his hands. 'What? But...'  
'Just go. Please do that for me.' the man ran away before any of them could protest.   
'What just happened?'  
'What are we going to do? Go there?'  
'We do not know why that man ran away from it.'  
'Come on Annabeth, he said something about an interviewer. He probably ran away to avoid press.'  
'Yeah, the same way we tried to avoid you.'  
Leo rolled his eyes. He linked his arm through Percy's. 'I am hungry. Let's go see what's it all about.' He pulled Percy along.   
'It's dangerous. There might be monsters,' Annabeth stated.   
'No way that that person was a demigod. Plus, we can fight ourselves free, right? Let's just try it.' Annabeth sighed. 'Alright then, but I'll blame you if something happens.'  
They made it to the restaurant in time. When they got there, immediately a waiter came running over to them. 'Are you two the misters Terry and their interviewer?' He asked.  
'Uh, yeah I guess,' Leo answered. The man sighed happily.  
'Oh, great! Please come along.' They did, and the waiter lead them to a very nice table in the middle of the restaurant. 'Do you want to drink something first, or immediately order dinner?' the waiter asked. Annabeth and Percy only ordered a cup of soup. Leo, who had not eaten since lunch, ordered a full meal and made both of his friends wait on him and act like they were doing an interview for way to long.   
after an hour and a half they stood outside again. 'I have no idea who that guy in Central Park was, but that was delicious!' He chanted. 'Now I have to leave for Olympus. Bye!' He sprinted off. Percy gave Annabeth a confused look. 'To Olympus? But when did he have the time to snap a picture?'  
Meanwhile, Leo was sitting in the Underground with the camera. He looked at the picture of Annabeth and Percy taking a bite of soup and looking at each other. He giggled. It was adorable. This would give him enough money to celebrate Nyssa's birthday.


	114. Nico Meets The Old Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico passes out during training. He makes up in a place he did not expect.

Nico slowly opened his eyes. He did not know where he was. He felt very weird - like a ghost, but not completely. He laid a finger on his wrist - oh, good, his heart was still beating. The room was a blur, but slowly Nico started to see better. When he had a clear view of the ceiling, he tried to sit up straight. The ceiling was weird. It was clearly a roof made of solid stone, but the colours seemed to shift, like a hurricane seen from above, but saphire blue.  
Actually, the entire room was sapphire blue. On the right laid a few gravestones, but they were shaped like really extravagant thrones for some reason. One on the left seemed newer than the others. Another one on the right had cracks and vines growing through it from oldness. Nico shook his head. 'It really happened now,' he muttered. 'Someone threw some hallucinating stuff through my drink.' He sighed, but stopped halfway through when he felt a creepily cold hand on his shoulder. 'Wait, you are neither a God not dead. What're you doing here?' He heard someone ask.  
Will looked at the comatose body of his boyfriend. 'Come on, Neeks, wake up,' he thought. Nico had been in coma since that afternoon, when his sparring partner knocked him out. He had accidently shadow-travelled away - luckily not far, but to a small shrub at the border of the forest. Yet, he had been in a coma, from which he had not awoken yet - even though it was already 2 A.M.  
Will took a small sip of water. He was sitting by Nico's bed, to make sure everything was alright. Nico had not moved yet, but Will felt somewhere in his heart that Nico would not take long to go over to normal sleep (which was impossible for humans, but demigods, at least Demigods of Hades, Hypnos and Morpheus had the ability to slip from coma into sleep).  
Nico, meanwhile, turned around. He immediately looked away again. The hand on his shoulder belonged to a ghost, but his eyes were different from the eyes of any other ghost he had ever met. They were bright, like little suns, and pretty much impossible to look into. 'Who are you?' Nico asked. He could not see it, but the ghost raised his eyebrows.  
'I can better ask you that. You are disturbing a god in his peace!' Nico turned around again, with a hand in front of his eyes. He heard a sigh. He felt how a pair of sunglasses were pushed into his hands.  
'Thanks,' Nico muttered as he put them on. 'I have no idea where I am. I believe I was sparring with someone, but then I disappeared and woke up here,' he said. He heard a small gasp from the small graveyard. He turned his head, and saw another ghost - but then one that slightly looked like him. 'Oh, are you also a son of Hades?' Nico asked. The man/boy (his age was hard to pin down) nodded slowly. 'Ye-yeah. I-I was a G-god.' The guy with bright pupils rolled his eyes.  
'Yeah, Yeah. We all were, Zagreus. That's why we are here.'  
'Come on, little brother. You know how nervous he is.' Helios rolled his eyes.  
'One would think you would get less nervous if you have been dead for five thousand years.' Someone else in the graveyard scoffed. 'I would appreciate it if you would not talk about my blood like that.' The godly ghost opened his mouth to say something back, but Nico was first: 'Wait, Zágreus? As in, the god of dead that managed to merge with Dionysus or something? Who is also my brother?'  
For an answer, he got a deep sigh. 'Yes, genius, that one,' the person who had defended Zagreus mentioned. 'Although out souls split up again when I died as well.'  
'And you got replaced by some mild lamo.'  
'As if Apollo is so great, Helios.'  
Nico blinked a few times. He wondered if he fully understood what was going on (probably not, but whatever). 'So...  
let me get this as straight as I can. I am now in the place where the souls of... faded gods reside.'  
'Exactly,' a deep feminine voice boomed. Nico turned his head. A fierce woman was standing in a corner. She was wearing full battle armour. 'I did not know Athena was reborn once,' he muttered. The woman threw her head in her neck and laughed.  
'Athena? The woman would wish. No, no, I was Aphrodite - before that ditz took my place.' Nico stared at her. Aphrodite in battle armour? Well, apparently. He heard a deep sigh from the other sigh of the room. The ghost of Zagreus and the other god (who Nico assumed was a really old form of Dionysus) came closer. 'You think your powers were inherited by some ditzy person?' She sighed.  
'Alright, alright, the current Dionysus is also not exactly the best.' Yet another voice came from the small graveyard.  
'Come, come, it isn't so bad.'  
'You have been dead for six thousand years. You probably forgot what the earth was like,' Not-Aphrodite answered. The god shook his head. 'No. I just think mine and his' - he pointed at not-Zagreus - 'sequel was better than you all might think.' His... brother or whatever, rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something back, but this time what Nico assumed was Selene was quicker.  
'You three should be glad that at least your name stayed the same. Me and my brother just got thrown out of the pantheon one day, with the message that those little kids suddenly had our jobs!' She said. She sounded a little bitter.  
Nico shook his head. This was a lot to take in. 'Alright, I believe I am going crazy.'  
'You're not, though.'  
'If Dionysus really got reborn without your soul, I wonder if you still have power over madness. Can you all just... slowly explain who you are?' He asked. Helios rolled his eyes.  
'I am Helios and I used to be the sun titan, before the romans threw me out and crowned Apollo 'lord of the sun,'' he said. Selene grabbed Nico's hands and pulled him up. 'I'm Selene. I was the moon before Artemis took over.' Nico nodded slowly. The warrior woman laid her hand on Selene's shoulder. 'The name's Aphrodite Areia. I'm from Sparta, where they saw me as the war goddess that I am until one day your ditzy girl took over.'  
'How did that happen? I mean, did you just fade because people did not like that you were a war goddess? Why didn't you just slam down on them?' She shrugged.  
'Hades knows.'  
'He probably doesn't.' Aphrodite 1.0 looked like she wanted to throw her spear through his body right then and there, but she did not move.  
'We don't really work with epithets, but technically we all used to be Dionysus. He during the mycenaean times of Greece and we' - he pointed at Zagreus - 'during the glory days of Orphism. Also, me and Zagry got reborn in the same body in some ridiculous way and when we died we split up again. Don't think about for too long, please.' Selene shuddered.  
'The glory days of Orphism? For you, maybe. I think it was a nightmare.' She raised her eyebrow. 'That's not completely separated from you, obviously.' Better Version Of Dionysus scoffed.  
Lastly, someone jumped out from behind the oldest throne. 'I haven't shown myself before, but I am...'  
'Pan,' Nico answered before he could, 'The god of the wild.' Nico smiled. 'Grover is doing his best to let the wild grow back. I do not know how calm music helps plants, but I assume it is what you would have done.' That comment was met with laughter from the Dionysus people ghost (whatever things or what).  
'Cálm music?' He slapped Pan on his shoulder. 'This guys heir is cálm? Man, and I thought we had it bad!' Nico blinked. 'What?'  
The Orphic ghost stared at him. 'You want to say this guy has been acting like a paragon of calmness for the centuries that we've been dead?' He asked. He sounded like he would not believe that in no way, ever.  
'We'll, I do not know what you two did to him, but...'  
'Not really,' Pan answered. He laughed. 'That was more to keep my energy in the last years. When the wilderness was still thriving, I acted more like these two know me.' He gestured at the Dionysus-clique.  
I-will-kill-you-Aphrodite scraped her throat. 'More like we all know you, Pan.' Pan shrugged. Helios rolled his eyes and sighed. 'Say, shouldn't we try to find a way to get this kid back?' Nico sighed, too.  
'I wanted to just try to shadow travel away and see what happens, or else do the cliché movie thing in which someone knocks me out and Oppa! I am back.' Not-so-ditzy-Aphrodite narrowed her eyes.  
'What's a movie?'  
'It's a story but with moving pictures. Like theatre, but not played in the moment,' Pan answered. The entire room did oh-like-that gasp. Nico gave looked around the room.  
'Wait, Helios had sunglasses though. How come that he had those but none of you know what a movie is?' He asked. Selene shook her head, but Zagreus answered: 'some-sometimes things appear he-here. W-we d-don't know how-w.' Nico nodded slowly. The wildest madness god currently dead patted his shoulder. 'It's alright, just calm down,' he whispered in his ear. Zagreus nodded. Nico looked at it. He wondered if there was not still a little bit of their soul merged.  
'Alright, I'll just leave now,' he muttered to no one in particular. He tried to find a proper shadow, but felt a very cold hand on his shoulder. He looked around, and saw his stuttering brother staring at him. His eyes seemed way to big to be real.   
'P-please st-stay safe.' Nico raised an eyebrow.   
'Thanks, I guess.' Zagreus shuffled away, back into his literal soulmates arms. Nico looked around the room one more time. Dead, faded away gods. He truly did not know what to think of it. They did not seem sad, or hurt, but they did not seem completely happy either. He turned his head away, and stepped into the shadows.  
Will let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his boyfriend slowly wiggled his fingers. Slowly, Nico opened his eyes. 'Neeks!' Will whispered. 'You were in a coma!'  
'I did not think you could wake up that quickly from a coma.'  
'It's because you are a Hades kid.' Nico touched his head, which hurt.  
'Ouch! What happened?'  
'You got knocked out by your sparring partner and went into a coma. It was dark for a few hours.'  
'It wasn't dark, Will.' Wills' eyes grew.  
'What?'  
'I... I saw… Ow.' he sighed. 'Can I tell it tomorrow?' He yawned. Will smiled and nodded.  
'Of course, Nico,' he said while he hugged his boyfriend. 'Of course. Wh' - He yawned softly - 'Why nott?'  
'Thanks, Zagreus.'


	115. Crazy Forest Ladies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are new Maenads in the forest. Against Dionysus and Chirons' warnings, a few demigods try to hunt them down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Night before Christmas In Camp Half Blood

It was once again Christmas in camp Half-blood, a time when it was more peaceful than usual... alright, that's a lie, but Chiron liked to pretend like it was a more peaceful time. In reality, the campers were just as rowdy as they normally were, if not more so because they were allowed more than usual. That was because Chiron let them sit where they wanted to, gave them more free time and also because a weird kind of 'cycle of nature' metafore magic made it so that Dionysus could barely function during the winter (Demeter had the same problem, but she was on Olympus and could just go to sleep).  
Usually, Dionysus would not even attend dinner, so it was noticeable that he was now. Chiron raised his eyebrows. 'Usually you can hardly keep your eyes open around this hour.' Dionysus shrugged.  
'I feel fine, though.' Chiron sighed deeply.  
'Oh, there we go again,' he muttered. He swiftly looked at Piper, Jason and Leo.  
Jason immediately realised what was going on. He groaned. 'I guess the... ladies from before the Argo II are back,' he told the others at his table - which was everyone in camp. They had pushed three tables against each other and were sitting at those.  
Piper slowly bit of her french frie. 'What?'  
'You know what happened while Leo was building the Argo and his anthropomorphic table got missing?' Leo blinked.  
'Oh. That,' he and Piper said at once.  
'What is it?' Travis said, with a smile that promised nothing good.  
Jason sighed. 'Well...'  
'While Leo was building the Argo II, Buford dan away. While we tried to get him back, we ran into about seven female bacchantes - you know, the followers of Dionysus.' The god swiftly looked up, but did nothing. Piper went quiet, but talked further when she lost his attention. 'We fought them off, but if he has enough energy this close to Christmas they are probably back. Followers make gods more powerful.'  
The entire table stared at her, except for Jason, Leo and Travis. The latter took a bite of Pizza. 'So are we going to get them out of the forest again?' He asked. Piper, Leo and Jason shook their heads violently.  
'No. No way. That was a nightmare!' Leo yelled. Chiron coughed from the head table.  
'Is everything alright, Leo?' He asked. Leo nodded.  
'Yeah, yeah,' he muttered.  
'Why don't we just tell Mr. D and have him get them out?' Nyssa asked. Connor rolled his eyes.  
'No. Let's just try to get them tonight!'  
'That's asking for trouble,' Annabeth mentioned (she was in camp because she felt like it). Connor shrugged.  
'I want to know what goes on, though,'  
'I think Chiron probably already told Mr. D,' Percy mentioned.  
They heard sighing from the head table. Chiron said something to Dionysus, who seemed to be slightly shocked. He got up. 'I heard there are currently...'  
'Maenads in the camp. We can take them on,' someone said.  
'You can't. Mostly because I cannot let you. I'll get them out of the camp and all of you stay inside to avoid unnecessary...' he paused and looked at Chiron. 'Victims. Now eat your dinner and go to the Big House.'  
If you thought that all of the demigods would just follow those orders and stay in the Big House for the night, I believe you need to reread the series from the beginning. At ten P.M., Chiron was asleep (Conner checked). All of the demigods crawled out of their sleeping bags, even the ones who had previously told the others that the idea was stupid and dangerous - because 'I won't let you get hurt' (The others were well aware that they went because they wanted excitement, too).  
Twelve demigods crept through the forest at 10.12 P.M. Exactly. 'Good thing you knew how to not get noticed by the harpies, Leo,' Connor mentioned. Leo shrugged.  
'It comes in handy,' he answered. Like when you want to just be alone for some time in the middle of the night, he thought. Connor giggled. 'Sure it does.' Annabeth shushed them.  
'Guys, we could be attacked by a horde of nymphs that tare our flesh apart. Could you be silent, literally for our lives?' She whispered. Travis opened his mouth to say something, but then they heard a scream. 'You know what Annabeth? You might be right,' Harper, a son of Aphrodite, muttered.  
It was quiet for the whole of nine seconds. 'W-what was that sc-scream?' Someone whispered, with a shiver in their voice. Everyone looked at Annabeth, who slowly shook her head. 'No idea, but it sounded like a female scream and we are all still here. Maybe it was a maenad in too high... frenzy?' Or a poor forest nymph who was the victim of said frenzy, she thought. Piper, who was standing in the back, shivered. 'Hnghn. I don't want to think about it. They tore a drakon to pieces with their bare hands last time.'  
She really should not have said that. Immediately, Valentina, a daughter of Aphrodite, started shrieking. 'What? No! Why did we get in here!?' She yelled, way to loud. Piper slapped her hand in front of her mouth.  
'Shhh! Or they'll tear us to pieces too!' Okay, now she really, really shouldn't have said that. Valentina shrunk against a tree trunk, together with two other younger campers. 'Why'd we get in here? I want to go back!' They howled. Annabeth bit her lip. 'Shut up,' she muttered. 'I'll take you back. Just be quiet.'  
'But...but...'  
'Hello, I hope you ain't intruders!' They heard behind them  
Annabeth froze. 'Too late,' she mouthed. Travis and Connor had a glint in their eyes that did not promise a lot of good. Annabeth turned around. 'Of course we are not intruders!' She beamed. 'We're here to... party along!'  
The maenad squealed. 'Great! That way, our lord will notice us for sure!' Annabeth nodded, well aware of that Dionysus had warned them during dinner to not hunt down the maenads. Getting noticed by him while they were doing just that was about the last thing she wanted.  
'Great...' she said through clenched teeth. The maenad had started to skip away, while trying to pull Jason and Percy along. Now, she turned her head to Annabeth again. 'You don't sound excited,' she said, in a tone that gave the entire group shivers. Valentina yelped. Annabeth managed to keep her composure. 'Eh... the wine supply was low at home and we have to work all day. We are a bit tuckered out, but that can change, right?' The maenad smiled at her.  
'Of course, sweetheart!'  
Percy stared at Annabeth. 'How do we get out?' He mouthed.  
'No idea,' she mouthed back.  
'We need to...' Percy tried to mouth back, but the maenad gave him a kiss right on the lips. Percy staggered back in surprise. 'What...'  
'You should not talk to yourself, silly!' The girl giggled. 'You can always talk to me!' She did not notice Annabeth's' expression darkening. Threaten me all you want, but keep your claws away from Percy, she thought. She put her hand on her knife, but Piper stopped her. 'Don't. We can't kill them. Dionysus will be forced to kill us,' she whispered (of she had screamed at the top of her lungs the maenad would not have heard it either, so busy was she with Percy and Jason).  
Annabeth stared at her. 'Than what do we...'  
'OH HEY! CONNOR, IS THAT A SQUIRREL?! Travis screamed, so loud that everyone in a fifty kilometre range could hear it. Travis nodded enthusiastically. 'SURE IS! LET'S FOLLOW IT!' before anyway could answer, they ran away. The girl slowly turned her head around. this was the part of the horror film where everyone was screaming at the television that they should not have gone into the forest. With no choice left to them and fired on by the way the girl looked, the remaining demigods sprinted after the Stolls, into the dark, cold, snowy forest.  
'This is the last thing I wanted to do on the night before Christmas,' Piper mentioned. Leo nodded.  
'Strongly agree.'  
'Silence!' Annabeth growled. No-one complained. Even the smaller kids had gotten silent, out of fear. Somewhere in the forest, they heard the sound of a horn. 'Guess the Maenads' camp has been alarmed,' Percy remarked. Annabeth shook her head. 'Don't want to think about it.'  
It felt like the biggest relief of their lives when they reached the edge of the forest. Some kids started to slow down, but Annabeth sprinted further. 'They'll get here. We have to make it to the Big House.'  
'And then? We can't alarm Chiron!' Harper said. Annabeth shrugged.  
'We'll have to. He is smart enough to just tell Dionysus that they trespassed into the camp without telling him that we provoked them.'  
'We could also go back and make sure they do not get on here,' Travis mentioned. Leo slapped him in the face.  
'No.'  
They walked back to the Big House, where a light had gone on. When Annabeth stepped inside, with the rest of the crew behind her, he gasped. 'Children! What have you done!?' He said, way louder than usual. Annabeth opened her mouth.  
'We...'  
'We went into the forest even though Dionysus told us not to and you said we could not go either,' Travis told him. Annabeth shrugged. 'And now the Maenads are on their way,' Connor added. Chiron sighed deeper than he thought was possible. 'Connor, Travis, stable duty for a month. The rest of you will be given two weeks of dish duty, every week another person. Now immediately go to sleep. I'll try to contact Dionysus. And never, ever do this again, you hear me?' He told them. They all nodded. Chiron raised an eyebrow.  
'Of course, Chiron,' they chimed in unison. Chiron nodded.  
'Goodnight.'  
'Goodnight.'  
They crawled into their sleeping bags. Piper pulled Valentina, who was still weeping, close to her. 'Shh. It's fine. They'll be gone by tomorrow,' she whispered into her hair. Eventually, Valentina fell asleep. The rest of them was shaking the entire night, while outside they heard the screeching and yelling from what sounded like a whole lot of angry maenads.


	116. The Agora Of Athens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Annabeth are in Athens, but the trip does not go as planned.

Annabeth squealed. 'We're here! We're in Athens and we do not have to fight evil earth mothers!' She chirped. Percy laughed. He knew Annabeth was eternally grateful that her dad gave her and Percy tickets to Athens, and one for Sally and Estelle too - to supervise (hey, they are two seventeen year olds in a strange city, who sends to seventeen year olds alone into a strange city... oh right).  
Annabeth was exceptionally happy. She would finally get to see the parthenon and the agora in peace. As soon as they dropped off all of their stuff at the hotel, she grabbed a small bag out of her carry-on luggage. 'I'm not going to waste time. Let's go!' She hopped up and down. Sally shook her head.  
'Annabeth, Estelle needs to sleep. Also, it is seven 'O'clock in the evening - places are going to close soon.' Annabeth set up her biggest puppy eyes. 'We could see the agora really quick. It is close nearby and I'll pay!' Sally sighed.  
'By all means you go, then. But I want you to be back at quarter past eight.' Percy put a key in his pocket.  
'I'll come along. You never know whether they'll happen something weird.'  
Hand in hand, Annabeth and Percy walked to the ancient agora of Athens. 'It is mostly only old left-overs, but the special thing about the agora of Athens is that there is a temple of Hephaestus that is the most well-preserved temple in Greece,' she told Percy. He nodded.  
'I read up on things too, Annabeth.'  
'Oh.' She tightened her grip on his hands.  
They made it to the Agora, only to find out that everyone under eighteen got to go in free - so that saved them another sixteen euros. Annabeth put her wallet back in her bag. 'That was easier than expected.'  
'Did you just fill a bag at home so you could immediately run to the ancient stuff?' Percy asked. She shrugged.  
'Maybe.'  
For the first fifteen minutes, things were calm. So calm, even, that they got to see everything in those twenty minutes - after that, things got pretty boring. 'Do you really want to make a drawing of the Hephaestus temple?' Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. 'Yes. It'll help with my studies.' He sighed.  
'Alright.' They climbed the small hill, on top of which was the temple. The only other people there were an older woman and a man who was wearing the 'tourist dad' costume. Annabeth sat down on a ledge to make a sketch, while Percy decided to take a look around.  
Bad call. If he hadn't done that, he might not have noticed the magic, which would have resulted in a relaxing first night. But no, the gods can't allow that. About ten minutes into looking down at the agora and thinking deep thoughts, Percy noticed something on the high hill the Parthenon was located on - you could see it from the Agora. It looked like white marble and stone flying around. Suddenly, the iron fence that had been around the Agora - so people would not get inside without paying for a ticket - fell on one side. Percy gasped. A flight of stairs begun to grow, down from the hill to the agora. 'Annabeth!' Percy yelled.  
She looked up. 'Percy, what...' she followed his gaze and saw what he was seeing. 'Oh, no, no, no, that's not good.' The tourist dad and the elderly woman dropped to the floor. Percy gasped again and ran over to tourist dad. He laid his head on the man's chest. 'He still breathes and his heart still beats,' he told Annabeth. She sighed of relief.  
'Well, than it is godly magic and the mist acting up. But... what is...' now not only the parthenon and the hill it was located on were rebuilding themselves, but the same thing happened to the ancient agora. The fundamentals grew until they were buildings again. The stone had gotten yellow over the years, but cleaned and painted themselves at such high speeds that neither Annabeth or Percy knew what to say about it.  
In three minutes time, the acropolis and the agora had rebuild themselves to look exactly how it had looked in ancient Athens. Annabeth slowly shook her head. 'Impossible,' she muttered. She finished her phone out of her bag and typed in a number. 'Hello, Sally?'  
'Annabeth! What's going on? Where you attacked?'  
'No... not yet. Do you see anything weird?'  
'No, but should I?'  
'Well, the entire Acropolis and Agora... just...' Annabeth shook her head.  
'We'll get back when we looked at this.' She hung up the phone and turned to Percy. 'Let's go. It started at the Acropolis, so that's probably where the causer of this mess is.'  
The trip to the Acropolis cost them less time than Annabeth had expected, mostly because of the staircase that had not been there before. As soon as she was on top of the mountain, she looked around. 'I see nothing. Do you feel anything!?' She asked. Percy shrugged. 'It feels really pure on here, but I do not feel monsters or powerful gods,' he told her. Annabeth looked up. They were standing next to a gate that should bring them to the parthenon. 'The Parthenon is on the highest bit of the mountain. It could be dangerous to stand next to it, with the statue still inside, but we might be able to see who is responsible for this.' She waved around. Percy nodded.  
'You know I'll follow you.'  
The way to the mightiest temple of Athens, if not of all Greece, felt tediously long, but they made it. On top of the hill stood two temples - one the temple of Athena, and the other a smaller temple of Nike. Annabeth pointed at it. ' do you see the statues of those girls? Apparently, when the Persians attacked Athens, they threw them into a well to preserve them. Modern archeologists found them back.' Percy wasn't really listening.  
'Uh-uh. We need to make sure we are not struck by lightening up here.' Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'Yes, of course. They walked to the other side of the Parthenon. 'It's huge, isn't it?' She muttered, while they made their way around it. Percy nodded. 'It really is. You can basically feel the power radiating from it.' Annabeth swallowed.  
'Let's get this over with.'  
She looked out over the other side of the hill. 'Alright, so both theatres have also been resurrected,' she remarked. She squinted her eyes. 'Do you see someone... down there?' She asked, while pointing at a part right between the two theatres. Percy tilted his head. 'Yes. Looks like a satyr.' He raised his eyebrows. 'Looks like Grover!' Annabeth's' mouth fell open. 'Yes, you're right.' She grabbed Percy's hand. 'Let's go ask what's going on.'  
The way down to the theatres was luckily less tedious and long. They saw Grover still standing in the same place as they had seen him from the top of the Acropolis. A forest nymph was standing next to him - Grover was ranting to her. 'Hey, that can't be Juniper, right?' Percy asked. Annabeth shrugged.  
'It's impossible, but this is Greek Mythology, so normal rules do not really apply.' Percy shrugged as well.  
'Grover! What's going on?' Percy yelled. Grover jumped up and grabbed the hand of the nymph, who slowly shook her head. 'It is Juniper,' Percy whispered to Annabeth. 'I don't understand how.'  
'Me neither. Grove! What's going on? Do you know why the Acropolis decided to rebuild itself?' She yelled. Grover just shook his head. It looked like he was crying. Percy ran over to him. 'Hello.'  
Annabeth quickly joined the crew. Grover opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Juniper patted him on the back. She turned to Percy and Annabeth. 'We had the simple mission to check on the nature in Athens. It... didn't go as planned.' She held her hand up. Percy's eyes grew wide.  
'He... raised the entire Akropolis, plus theatres and the Agora?' He asked, unbelieving.  
'It was an accident!' Grover yelped. 'Please, they'll get angry!' Percy put an arm around his shoulder.  
'Of course this was an accident. But who'll get angry? The council of cloven-hooved elders?' Juniper bit her lip.  
'We wished it was just them. But probably Artemis and Dionysus, maybe Demeter.' Grover looked like he got smacked every time she said a name. 'Pan, and now Grover, might rule the wilderness, but they still control the forests - just like they did in the old days. Together with Pan, I mean.' Juniper continued. Percy shrugged.  
'Then we need to fix it. I mean, if you managed to let the Akropolis grow out of the earth you should be able to reverse that too, right?' Grover nodded.  
'Yeah, maybe.'  
He closed his eyes and just stood there for a moment. Grover tried to connect with the earth, to put the illusion of a rebuild akropolis down - but nothing happened. He looked at the floor. 'I guess I should just confess. Maybe that than at least the mortals won't realise what's going on.' Annabeth shook her head.  
'There must be a way to fix it without provoking Olympian gods. Maybe if we try using magic from the top of the acropolis? I mean, they build the temple there because it was closest to Olympus. Maybe the magic is stronger on there?' She suggested. Grover shrugged and stared at the ground. Juniper nodded.  
'Juniper, how did you even get here? Aren't you tied to that one bush in Camp Half-blood?' Percy asked on their way up the hill. Juniper nodded. 'I am, but I am also partially tied to Grover - because he is the lord of the wild and all. That way I can basically be where he is, or at Camp Half-blood.'  
'Sounds like the rules of nature are also difficult.' She chuckled.  
'Absolutely, and you haven't even heard of sharing the forest or any further power dynamics!'  
They reached the top of the mountain and Grover was still just one ball of nerves. He closed his eyes again. 'Nope. Doesn't work,' he muttered. Tears welled up in his eyes. 'I don't know what to...' at that moment, a piercing sound echoed over the acropolis and the agora. 'Well, something happened,' Percy remarked. And it did. Entire walls fell to the floor and disappeared. The theatres shrinked back to their current sizes again. The agora turned from a majestic meeting place back to an archeological site. The ancient buildings turned back to normal.  
Juniper clapped in her hands. 'Well, you must have done something, beca...'  
'He didn't,' a loud, female voice said. 'I turned it all back to normal.' AnnBeth groaned, but they all turned around.  
'Hello, mom. Let me guess, you have already told all of Grovers' superiors about this?' Annabeth sighed. Athena nodded.  
'I did as soon as I felt a disturbance at my most sacred place, daughter.' She turned to Grover.  
'Honestly, I did not expect any less from the new Pan. You'll hear more when Artemis and Dionysus have made their report - which could take ages, knowing them, but that doesn't matter. Oh, and forest nymph? Watch out.' The goddess disappeared in a pillar of fire.  
Juniper clutched Grovers' arm. 'You're not like Pan in that regard,' she whispered. Grover nudged her side. Annabeth sighed deeply. 'Let's just go back to the hotel and get some dinner. Grover, Juniper, I am extending the invitation to you.'  
Later, Estelle had been put to bed, Sally had the babyphone with her, and they were all sitting before a mountain of food. Annabeth was telling Sally what had happened - the rest mostly focused on eating. Halfway through the meal, a letter dropped next to Grovers' plate, with the logo of Hermes' mail service on top. He shivered. 'Oh no.' Juniper picked up the envelope and tore it open. She and Grover read the letter together. While they were reading, their expression changed from distress to regular calm. When they were done, Juniper through the letter onto the table.  
'They find it funny,' Grover told them. 'Funny!'  
'Apparently it is a common mistake among new gods. I wonder why Athena did not know it, then,' Juniper mused. Percy shrugged. 'Well, at least we're save for another five seconds, right?' He said, before taking another bite of burger.


	117. A Fishy Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper gets kidnapped by Fish-men

Piper laughed and walked over to the sea, with her surfboard. 'Sure you are better than I am, Percy!' She yelled over her shoulder. She stepped into the sea. The water was cold, but in her wetsuit she did not notice it.  
She laid her board ready. The waves were high - but it was nothing she had not been in before. A wave come rolling up. At just the right moment, she got to her feet. She sighed happily. This day was just perfect.  
She laid her board ready for a second wave, and managed to surf on that one, too. Yet, on the highest point, a second wave hit her right against the chest. She fell off her board.  
She came up again, spitting up water. 'Percy!' She yelled, knowing he would not hear her. She looked around, but she saw her friend nowhere. The waves around her seemed to get wilder and wilder.  
'Percy?' she got no answer - obviously. Now she was sure the waves around her were growing. 'Hello!' She yelled. 'Anybody?!' She felt a slimy hand on her shoulder.  
'Yes, princess, me. Don't worry.' Piper was of the opinion that right now was a great moment to worry, but she didn't say anything back. An enormous wave rolled over her. Her head went under. She tried to swim back to the surface, but the hand held her back.  
Piper panicked. She tried to kick the unknown foe away, but she could not feel a body anywhere. She clawed at the surface. 'Let me go!' She yelled, which was the only other thing she could think of. Nothing happened. More slimy hands reached over her entire body. One of them covered her mouth. That gave her a light feeling for a few seconds - after that, she passed out.  
Piper woke up in a room that smelled so much like fish that she immediately covered her nose. 'Hng.' Her throat felt raw. Her voice sounded like she was walking over a few rocks. From her left side, someone pushed a bottle of water into her face. She took it and took a few long, nice, refreshing sips. 'Thanks,' she mumbled. Her voice sounded clearer than before. She turned to the person who had handed her the water.  
It took a great deal of self restrained to not scream. Next to her stood... no, floated, a slimy... thing. It had a mermaids tail and a green body, which seemed to be made up of goo. 'Th-thank you,' she muttered. The mermaid-like thing bowed its head, before make swimming motions to get out of the room.  
Piper concluded that she was probably under water. Vaguely, she remembered being thrown of her surfboard. It seemed like she was kidnaped by some slimy underwater folk. She took another sip of water - she had never assumed that being under the surface would make you this thirsty.  
There was no clock, which made Piper hope that she was not dreaming this while being passed out. Yet, she assumed that about fifteen minutes passed until a second underwater jelly mermaid swam into the room. 'I'm sorry for the wait. Please follow me,' they simply said. Piper raised an eyebrow and stuck her chin forward. 'And where would we be going?'  
'To the throne room.'  
'And why do I want to be there?'  
'You do not need to want it.'  
'That does not make things better.'  
'Come.'  
That one, last word sounded more ominous than all of the other things the goo fish had said combined. Piper scoffed and got up from the bed. 'Alright then.' She clutched the water bottle against her chest.  
The mermaid lead her through a hallway that was just as emerald green and slimy as the monsters themselves. Piper shivered. It was cold in here, something she felt through her wetsuit. 'Wait, how am I breathing?' She asked to the mermaid in front of her. They looked back at her from the corner of their eye. 'Look at your neck.' Piper raised one eyebrow. She realised she must look spoiled and annoyed, but she didn't really care.  
'I can't do that.' The mermaid did not answer. Piper rolled her eyes. 'Alright then, stay quiet,' she murmured.  
'Thanks, I will.' For a second, Piper was happy that everything was made of green slime - it made ignoring the urge to slap the fish a whole lot easier.  
They arrived at two big doors. The mermaid clapped in their fin-hand hybrids. The door flew open. The fish bowed at her. 'You first.' Piper rolled her eyes.  
'That is a very chique way to treat a prisoner.' The mermaid did not react, but Piper could swear they looked at her with daggers in their eyes.  
She swam into a big, very richly decorated room. It looked like a room in the old Barok style with an extra portion of green slime and seaweed hanging from the walls and just floating around. One side was made of nothing but mirrors. When Piper turned to that specific wall, she had to hold back the urge to scream again. In her neck, a few holes had opened up. They looked like long stretched paper cuts without blood. Piper realised that whoever captured her gave her gills, and she was hoping they were not permanent.  
'Ahum, my reside over here,' she heard a deep voice boom. She looked over. On a blue, extra slimy throne-like thing sat a dark green, extra huge, extra extra slimy mermaid beast. Pipers' eyes grew wide, but by now she was used to the slimy green aesthetic that this place seemed to have. 'I think you're the leader of this toko,' Piper said.  
The leader nodded. 'I would prefer it if you remembered me as Lord Goldshell,' he boomed. Piper nodded.  
'Alright, Lord Goldshell. Now tell me why I am here.' Lord Goldshell sighed.  
'You're not exactly nice, are you? I have you water and a bed, and this is how you behave towards me?'  
Piper shrugged. 'I believe you kidnapped me and without that I would not have needed your water or beds, so I don't care.' Lord Goldshell looked like no one had ever spoken to him like that before.  
'I did not kidnap you, milady. My employees did that.'  
'Is there a reason that you say one thing not entirely correct in every sentence you speak?'  
'What are you muttering about? Everything I say is completely right, and no one can speak against me!'  
Piper sighed. She did not feel very scared, weirdly enough. 'Alrighty, lord goldshell. So, why am I here and why do I have gills?' Lord Goldshell scoffed. A bit of slime dripped of his hand and onto the floor. Piper stuck out her tongue a little.  
'You're here to intimidate Aphrodite. She needs to make us pretty again. She cursed us completely unprovoked! As for the gills, I can also steal them away if you want,' he answered. Piper bit her tongue.  
'I'll keep them, thanks. As for what you said before that, you mean to say that the green slime is not a choice you all made, but inflicted on you by my mother?'  
'Completely right. You'll stay here until she has turned us back to usual. After that, you can go.' Piper sighed. So she was being held hostage for a kind of ransom.  
'Oh. Cool. Can I return to my room.' The king sighed. A piece of blubber left his mouth, which made Piper feel sick.  
'Whatever you may will. Go and think about it.' Piper bowed and left the throne room. On her way out, she saw her gills again - a shiver went through her body.  
The same merperson as before took her back to her room. Piper did not ask or say anything. There had been attempts to kidnap her before. When she was five years old, an old 'friend' of her father had tried to take her back to his home to get money out a Tristan. A second time, a teacher on one of her schools had tried to take her somewhere while she was alone in a school bus. Yet, she had never before been kidnapped because people wanted something from her mother.  
While she was just swimming around the room, trying to see what she had in there (nothing to pass the time with, that was clear), she wondered whether her mother would have care enough to save her. Would the mighty and radiant Aphrodite really lift a curse because of her? Piper doubted it.  
Some time past when suddenly boredom kicked in. There really was nothing to do in the slime covered room. She tried her door. As she assumed, it was locked. She knocked on it. Immediately, it flew open, almost hitting her straight in the gills.  
'Yes?' The same slime person as before asked.  
'Can I explore the house a little?'  
'We're in a palace.'  
'Can I explore the palace for a bit?'  
'No.' Piper sighed dramatically.  
'Can I at least have something to do?'  
'I'll be back.' She closed the door in Pipers' face and swam away.  
She came back after a few minutes, with a book. 'You can study.' Piper sighed even deeper. More homework was the opposite from what she wanted, but there was nothing else. 'It'll have to do. Thanks I guess.' The merperson did not answer, but she closed the door again.  
Piper swam to the bed. She felt a hole in her stomach, but the slime and ugly green color everywhere stopped her appetite. She also had no idea (or lust to see) what the food looked like. It might as well be more slime. So, instead of knocking again and asking for food, she opened the book.  
It was a book on the history of the slime folk. Apparently, they had been regular merfolk. The only weird thing about them had been that they visited the surface now and then. One day, Aphrodite had gotten into a relationship with one of them. She had left, obviously, but after that the merman got a new girlfriend. Apparently, he had boasted about how she was so much more prettier than Aphrodite, he did not even miss the goddess. Out of anger, Aphrodite had cursed the merpeople to look like slimy blobs with tails and cut of their contact with the land.  
Piper rolled her eyes. 'So a garden variety 'people getting slapped down for their hubris story',' she said out loud. 'And I have to be bait.' She scoffed. 'They should have used Eros instead. That would have gotten her attention. Me? Never!' She laughed. 'And now that I am talking to myself, the chance of being rescued probably lowered itself,' she whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek when the reality hit her. She was stuck in a palace. Being held for ransom. And all that without knowing if she would ever see the surface again.  
Piper bit her lip. Would she become just like the merpeople? Green and covered with slime? Her hands slid past her gills. She shivered again. Suddenly, she started to sob. Tears streamed down her face. 'I want to go home!' She yelped.  
Her door opened again. The mermaid came swimming back inside. They sat down on the side of Pipers' bed. 'Dinner will be held in a few minutes. You're expected.'  
Piper looked at her. Her lip quivered. 'I don't want to go.'  
'You have no choice.' The merperson stroked her cheek. A little bit of goo stayed behind. Piper didn't even feel it. 'I do. I'll stay here and nothing you do will make me go there.' The mermaid scraped their throat and clapped in their fins.  
Three incredibly slimy (but not as slimy as lord Goldshell) guards swam into the room. They grabbed Piper by her arms. She sobbed once more and took a deep breath. 'No. I'll swim there myself. Just show me the way.' The servant nodded, and the guards let go of Piper. The servant swam out of the room, with Piper behind her. She lead her to the dining hall.  
It was less slimy, which Piper was thankful for. She did not think she could have eaten anything in a completely slime-covered room. 'Sit here, please,' the servant said while motioning at what was probably a chair covered with seaweed. Piper sat down. The chair felt just like she thought a chair of seaweed would feel like, which was not very comfortable.   
The servant sat down at the table as well, which made Piper wondered if it was really a servant. She looked up and realised she sat right in front of lord Goldshell. He grinned at her. A little bit of slime oozed out of his mouth. Piper bit her lip. Maybe she would not eat anything tonight after all.  
The king clapped in his hands. Two more mermaid slime fish people came in, with plates filled with food (and yes - it was all green and slimy). While they started to give everyone portions, the king turned his attention to Piper.  
'You are not allowed to leave your chamber if I am not serving a meal,' He said. Piper groaned. 'Yet, I can offer you reading material.'   
'Hm.'   
'This will be the regime until your mother gives us what we want.'  
'Hm.' Piper stared at her plate. She felt her stomach turning over. She shivered. She heard lord Goldshell laugh. 'Not that appetizing, are you on my line?'  
'Don't You mean 'do you agree?'' Piper snapped. Lord goldshell scoffed while he picked up his fork.   
'No, I never, little brat.' Piper shrugged.  
'Sorry, lord,' she sissed. She decided that setting him up against her even more was not the smart thing to do. She picked up her fork. A little bit of slime touched her thumb. She felt a chill go up her spine. It was like touching a bit of food during the dishes, but ten times worse. She picked up a small piece of whatever was laying on her plate, closed her eyes, and stopped it in her mouth.   
She swallowed it, although she felt like spitting it out immediately. She opened her eyes. The portion that was on her plate looked way to big. She sighed deeply and lowered her fork again. When she picked up another bit of so-called food, the door of the dining hall flew open.   
Lord Goldshell jumped up and clapped in his fins. 'Lady Aphrodite! That was swiftly!' Piper looked around. The person who was standing in the doorway was not her mother - it was Percy. She turned back to Lord Goldshell and raised one eyebrow. 'Lord, I am sure that that is not...' She felt a hand on her shoulder. 'Sh, Miss Piper, let us do the talking.'  
She looked up. A lady was standing next to her, but she was sure it was not her mother. It was a lady with long blond hair and a wavy, turquoise dress. She took a step back. Percy walked over to her. She let out a sob and hugged him.   
The lady straightened her shoulders. 'I am afraid I am not Aphrodite, lord Goldshell,' she said. She sounded tired and annoyed, like she had had this conversation a million times. Lord Goldshell scoffed again. 'Tss. Random Persons are not allowed in my radiant palace!' The ladies' expression turned darker.  
'Let me introduce myself. My name is Amphitrite, queen of the seas. I am here to release the girl and arrest you for breaking the laws of the oceans.' Lord Goldshells' eyes widened.   
'You.. You... can't make that. I am the lord in this palace!'  
'And the king of the oceans send me here to get the girl back.' Lord Goldshell growled.   
Suddenly, the servant mermaid got up. They swam over to Amphitrite. 'Leave.'  
'I'll have to arrest you too, if you try to stop me again.'  
'Leave.' Amphitrite nodded.   
'I will. Perseus, take the girl. I'll send a patrol of Dolphins over here.' Amphitrite swam away and gestured at Percy and Piper to follow them.   
They made it to the gates of the palace. It was the most slimy, green, seaweedy thing she had seen in the palace. Amphitrite clapped in her hands. The doors begun to open, but suddenly slammed shut again. Amphitrite once again straightened her back. 'Open up,' she commanded. Nothing happened.   
The mermaid came swimming in so fast that Piper zoomed back a little. 'Leave without the girl.'  
'No, we will not,' Amphitrite answered calmly. She narrowed her eyes. 'I did not know you got transformed as well, Zeta.' Zeta's lip quivered.   
'She stays. Leave,' she repeated. Amphitrite grabbed Pipers' hand and pushed Zeta away. 'Open!' she commanded again. The doors flew open. Zeta said another word, but Amphitrite swam away without looking around. Percy and Piper followed her closely.   
Piper took a deep breath when she was outside. She did not know fresh sea water could feel just as good as fresh forest air. She made a mental note to look better at her contribution to the plastic soup from now on. Amphitrite lead them to an underwater chariot. When they all sat down, Piper asked: 'So, who are that, why did I not know about them and how do you know Zeta?'  
Amphitrite swallowed. A small piece of slime hung in her silver blonde hair. It did not even look very disgusting on her. 'Those are a race of cursed mermaids, they have been cursed in the last century and as such no poets you study at camp have written about them and Zeta was my youngest handmaiden, who disappeared a long time ago. I never thought she would be cursed, too.'  
'Maybe she was that mermaids girlfriend.' Amphitrite shrugged.  
'Might be, she might just have been unlucky.' She looked at the palace. Piper noticed she looked slightly sad. 'I wished...' at that moment, the doors opened again. A slime covered mermaid came swimming out. Piper noticed it was Zeta.   
She swam up to the chariot. 'I want to come.' Amphitrite gave her a light smile. She tapped her on the forehead. The slime monster might a slight transformation, to a small mermaid with a blue tail and short, black hair. She still had the same, emerald green eyes. She sat down next to Amphitrite. The queen smiled at her. 'Welcome back, Zeta. Long time no see.' The mermaid bowed her head. 'Your majesty.'  
Piper groaned. 'Can we go? I haven't eaten anything in a day and I am tired.' Amphitrite sighed deeply. 'Teenagers...' she whispered. 'Go!' she told her charioteer. Her chariot started moving.  
On the way, Piper stared at Zeta. She was quietly staring at the horizon. Piper wondered why she had tried to stop her from leaving, but later joined them. For a few seconds, the mermaid made eye contact with her. She gave Piper a very small smile, as to make it up. Piper turned her head away.  
'You were really quick,' Piper remarked, while she and Percy were travelling back to her dads' house. Percy shrugged. 'At some point, I saw that the waves were acting weird. The next moment, you were gone. I left all my stuff with Tristan and swam to my dad's' place. He felt a weird presence in the corner of the ocean where you were. I think Amphitrite had a suspicion it was those things, so she went along. You know the rest.' Piper slowly nodded.  
'Yeah, yeah.' Piper took a deep breath. She still had a little scar in her neck, from where her gills had been. 'Hm. Breathing is better than getting oxygen via gills.' Percy laughed.  
'Glad I know that.' He sighed. 'I had never heard of Zeta.'   
'I don't think there was ever a moment to bring it up. I mean, you do not talk to Amphitrite a lot, right?' Percy shrugged again.   
'More often than my dad, to be honest. She is a nice stepmother.' Piper chuckled and put her arm around Percy's shoulders. 'I'm glad about that,' she said, while she fished the key to the house out of her pocket. 'Come. I think there are still some hot pockets in the kitchen.'


	118. A calm game of Monopoly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is a calm day on Olympus. Hestia things it is time for a game.

It was such a nice, calm day on Olympus. For once, there were no quarrels. Nobody was hurt. Nobody was screaming in agony. It was a really nice, really calm day. Hestia loved those days. They were small in numbers, so she treasured every single one of them.  
She looked out of her window. Her house was small, but exceptionally cosy. She liked it that way. She smiled widely. Today was the perfect day to do something as a family. A board game would be perfect! She immediately opened her cupboard and got out the box of monopoly. She had heard that mortal familie often played that together. With the box in her arms, she stepped outside.  
It was lunchtime on a council day, which meant that all the Olympians were in the same place (It might sound like an oxymoron, council days and quietness. But it really was the truth, however weird it may be). Hestia walked into the dinner hall, with the monopoly boxed. Everyone's' faces immediately lit up.  
'Hestia!' Apollo cheered. He put his fork down. 'Is everything alright?' She laughed.  
'I am doing great, Apollo.' She walked over and hugged him. 'Is everything good with you?' He nodded. 'Of course.' He looked at the box. 'What do you have there?' Hestia smiled innocently.  
She put the box on the table. 'Monopoly. We still have three hours until you all have to talk. We can play a game!' The entire Olympian council went silent.  
Zeus didn't know what to do. On one hand, he did not want to disappoint Hestia. On the other hand, he was sure that the game could cause a rift in the council. That was not a good thing when they were supposed to have a meeting in three hours. Yet, Hestia was there. Maybe the other Olympians would calm down for her...  
'Alright,' he said, with a fake smile. 'We'll do it.' He caught the gaze of his daughter Athena, who looked at him like he'd gone insane. She nodded, though. 'Yes. Fun, Hestia,' she said with such a fake grin that Hestia had to see it. The other Olympians also put fake smiles on their faces and nodded and said how great they all thought it was.  
Dionysus pushed his chair back. 'You know, I believe this is an absolutely great idea, Hestia, but Chiron asked me to go back after lunch so that we could revise something and also watch at the waterworks...' His voice ebbed away while Hestia grabbed his arm.  
'Can't that wait until in the evening?' Dionysus slowly begun shaking his head, until he saw the sad look on his aunts' face. 'I mean... I don't know...' he sighed. 'I'll play along.' he walked back to the table. While doing so, he made direct eye-contact with Hera. She gave him a look that would have killed him if he wasn't immortal and if looks could that. Demeter saw it. She swallowed. Already there was twist. Already she did not know who's side to pick.  
Hestia started to give everyone pylons, only to realise that there were not enough pylons for all thirteen of them. She chose one herself and looked around the table. 'One person will have to just watch,' she told everyone. She started to distribute the money into separate piles. Which was a good thing, because that way she did not see the death glares the other Olympians gave each other.  
Eventually, they decided that Poseidon got to be the bank and not play along (That way he could not fight about the right amount to pay with Zeus, they thought). Everyone else got a pylon. They decided that Hestia would go first.  
She picked up the dices, which was enough to make a wave of rivalry flow through the room. Hestia rolled a three and a five, which made her land on a street. She blinked. 'Do I have to buy it or not?' she asked to no-one in particular. Athena shook her head.  
'No, but it is the best strategy to do so.' Ares, who was sitting on the other side of the table, scoffed. 'You cannot help people!' Hermes, who was sitting in front of him, have him a deathglare. 'Shut it,' he mouthed. Ares looked like he wanted to say something hateful back, but Aphrodite, who was sitting next to him, put her hand in front of his mouth. 'Sh. Think of Hestia,' she whispered. Ares decided to keep quiet.  
Hestia bought the first blue street, got the card, and gave the dices to Demeter, who was sitting next to her. Demeters' hands were shaking. She threw the dices and rolled four. Her expression darkened as she moved her shoe-pylon to tp the square that said 'income tax.'  
Poseidon was looking at the board. He bit his tongue. He wouldn't laugh. He couldn't. Not with Hestia in the room. Poseidon dug his nails into his hand. If his favorite sister would not have been there, he would have jumped up and pointed at his second favorite sister. But he couldn't. 'Poseidon?' a voice broke his thoughts.  
'Heh?' He realised Demeter was pushing $10.000 in Monopoly money into his face.  
'You're the bank,' his sister reminded him. Poseidon nodded.  
'Eh, yeah, yeah.' He took the money, put it back in the box and the game continued.  
The dices passed from Demeter to her nephew Hermes. Some people groaned. Hermes was incredibly good at Monopoly. He or Athena were Always the ones who won. Hermes threw the dices and rolled the first train station. Hera scoffed. Hermes jerked his head up and stared her dead in the eye. 'Cheat,' Hera mouthed.  
'Shut up, witch,' he mouthed back.  
'Hera, Hermes, is there something you want to say?' Hestia asked, so sweet that Hermes and Hera immediately jumped to the conclusion that she noticed what they'd said. 'No, no!' Hera said. She gave Hestia her most charming smile. Hermes did the same thing. 'It is fine, auntie Hestia!' he said, trying to play the best nephew. Hestia slowly nodded.  
Hermes bought the first train station (He and Hera shot each other some major death glares) and the game continued. Everytime someone rolled the dices and landed on a spot, death glares were exchanged and hurtful comments were internally made.  
After a few rounds, Hermes had all of the train stations (much to Athena's chagrin), Athena owned the two most expensive streets with hotels (which Hermes didn't like) and the rest was trying to at least come in third while keeping their comments about Hermes and Athena having cheated inside their heads. Ares, Dionysus and Artemis were already out (but everyone knew Artemis and Dionysus had lost deliberately. When they actually wanted to win, they could ruin your entire day).  
It was Hestia's fourth turn. She owned a few minor streets, one with a house (she didn't own the entire city, but nobody had had the heart to tell her she could not put a house on a street without owning the town). She landed on the 'go to jail!' Tile. She heard a few people gasp. Hestia raised an eyebrow. 'Why should I go to jail? I haven't done anything!' She muttered. Hermes swallowed. 'I gift you my 'get-out-of-jail' free card! Than you don't need to go!' He yelled. A few people gasped again. Hermes never gave up his get-out-of-jail free card. Athena couldn't hide a sly grin. Artemis rolled her eyes. 'He has two, you guys,' she said, while playing with her pylon.  
They played further, until Hestia's next round. This time, she landed on Athena's most expensive street (with hotel). 'How much do I owe you?' She asked. Athena swallowed while she looked at the little card.  
'Uh... uh... let me calculate!' She looked at the card. She stared at that one ridiculously high number that would bankrupt her poor aunt. 'Uh...' she heard a sigh. Artemis got a phone out of her pocket (the gods had phones these days. There is no way that we have something that they don't).  
She touched one of her contacts and put the phone to her ear. 'Ma'am! Is something wrong?' Thalia's voice said.  
'No, but I am sure you guys are having trouble with that monster I told you about earlier,' it was silent for some time.  
'Uh, yes. You should come, I guess.' Artemis stood up.  
'Yall hear it. See you in a few hours.' She pushed her chair back, made a small trip around the table to kiss Hestia on her forehead, and walked out of the throne room.  
Athena stared at her card. Artemis had bought her some time, but it wasn't enough. After a few seconds, Hestia's soft voice broke the silence: 'So, Athena?'  
'Two thousand dollars.' Hestia looked genuinely surprised.  
'Only two thousand?' Athena nodded.  
'Family discount?'  
'We're all family, Athena.'  
'Just pay.' Hestia payed, and they played on.  
Not even three minutes later, they heard the sound of somebody typing on their phones. 'Phones away, please!' Hestia asked. A few seconds later, an Iris-message popped up, with Chiron's head. 'I need Dionysus, I think.' Dionysus got up.  
'You all hear it. Sorry that I need to stop your game, Hestia, but I have no choice.' He did the same as Artemis, and left the throne room. Athena scoffed. Young gods these days, she thought.  
In the end, Hestia won, mostly because Hermes and Athena had been going ridiculously easy on her. Hermes was second, Athena third. The rest was still in a tumult trying to fight out who really got fourth place. Hestia picked up the board and left the throne room.  
'I was expecting you,' she said, while looking at Artemis and Dionysus, who were sitting on her front porch. They looked up. 'Sorry, Hestia, but that was too horrible,' Artemis confessed. Hestia smiled.  
'I know. They really think that I am that ignorant about evil, don't they?' Dionysus nodded.  
'Yeah.' He stood up. 'I need to go back to camp.'  
'We still have the meeting,' Artemis reminded him.  
'I know, but Chiron wouldn't have send me that Iris-message if there was nothing wrong. He really wants to stay out of Olympian drama. He is not going to give me an excuse to walk away from a Monopoly game.' Artemis shrugged.  
'True I guess.' She stood up as well. 'Then I go to. That monster was too much for my girls anyway.' Hestia kissed them both on the cheek and walked inside.  
The silence quickly returned to mount Olympus. At five 'O'clock, Hestia took a look at the throne room. Empty. She smiled. Peace successfully kept and not lost over the question of we should keep Zeus's succulent, she thought.


	119. The Prank War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a prank war between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, The Stolls are planning something.

The cabin counselors of camp Half-blood where all sitting around the ping pong table in the middle of the night. It was dead silent. Nobody had bothered to put on the lights - the room was pitch black. Slowly, the door opened. A small bit of light broke through the door. Two people walked through the door before it closed again.   
Sounds were heard as they walked to their chairs. It made a lot of counselors feel ancy. The sound of chairs being pulled away from the table made one of them shake. Someone put on a few candles, which gave the room an even creepier atmosphere. The person who had walked into the room last put a map on the table. 'So. Let's get straight to the point.'  
'This is way to dramatic.'  
'Shut up, Annabeth,' Connor answered. 'So, the special, elite team, that I picked out and no, I do not accept constructive criticism, will step into the car that I did not steal, shut up, and we'll drive to camp Jupiter.' He left a dramatic pause in his speech. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but nobody could see that by the candle light.  
'After we arrive, we sneak into the camp. We know how to do that. Piper has a part in it, but we'll tell more about that tomorrow.' Piper raised her eyebrows.   
'Are you telling us the plan to prank camp Jupiter back, or are you secretly setting up a prank and trying to get all of us to walk right into your trap?' she asked. Connor shrugged.  
'You never know. Now, after we've done that, we'll explain the rest of the plan.' Someone sighed.  
'I'm with Piper,' the voice of Katie Gardner said. Travis sighed.  
'It's our only way to get back at them for setting off those cannons just outside of camp so we all thought we were attacked!' He answered.  
'Why don't we just set off fireworks at midnight without telling them, or something?' someone else asked.   
'Because that's lame,' was Connors' short answer. 'Just trust us.'  
'Trust you?' Clarisse and Pollux said at the same time.   
'Yes.' Travis blew out the candles. 'The meeting is over. We'll see all of you tomorrow, plus the rest of our super elite team.'  
'Travis...'   
'No, Annabeth. Trust us.' The brothers walked out of the room, with their map. Percy put his hands to the table. 'So I guess all of the 'Don't go at once, come at midnight,' stuff was just for show,' he sulked. Jason, who was sitting next to him, sighed.  
'I guess.' He stood up and opened the door. 'I'm out. See you tomorrow.'  
'So you want to go?' Will asked. Jason shrugged.  
'Why not? Better than more sword training and daily grind, right?' Will tilted his head.  
'That depends on what they're planning,' Nico stated.   
'We'll see,' Lou Ellen mentioned. She also got up, and walked through the door that Jason was holding open. Nobody said anything else, while they all stepped through the door and walked back to their cabins (Except for Nico and Will. Nico shadow travelled them both away).

Yet, they were all on the main field the next day, at five 'O'clock. 'This is an ungodly hour,' Nico groaned. Will shrugged. 'Well, Apollo is already out.' Nico shot him an angry look.  
'Doesn't count.'  
Annabeth looked around. 'Does anybody see Travis or Connor with the rest of their... Elite Troops?' she asked. Everybody shook their heads. Suddenly, the car doors slided open.   
'Step in and you'll see us!' Travis yelled. Annabeth felt her eye twitch.   
'Can you open the doors?' she asked in a tone that did not imply that she liked what they'd done. Travis laughed and opened the doors. 'Get in, losers. The rest can step into Connors' car.' Annabeth ignored the opened doors and slid into the passenger seat. 'Well, let's go before Chiron wakes up, shall we?'   
They drove off. Annabeth looked outside the window. 'Travis?'  
'Hm?'  
'Do you have a plan?' The rest of the car shot Travis a few swift glances. Travis swallowed.  
'Yes.'  
'How well worked-out is it?'  
'Halfway through.' He shook his head. 'It depends on how the romans react to the first part on our prank.' Annabeth sighed.  
'Please tell me what the first part is.' Travis sighed.  
'Have you seen those boxes in the back?' Annabeth looked at the back of the minivan. On the row behind her were sitting Percy, Clarisse and Lou Ellen. On the row behind them laid three boxes. 'I have now.'  
'Well, those each contain one special bird. One of them produces a ridiculously loud sound - we got help from a few Apollo campers who swore not to tell anybody. The second bird can create storms with its Wings - no, don't ask, I don't know how or why or what either. We just found it.'  
'And those two are in the back of this car right now?' Annabeth asked. Travis shrugged.  
'They are well-contained. The third box contains a fire-breathing bird, with some help from the Hephaestus cabin. They made a small something or whatever to harness that power.'   
'And what is the plan with these three magical birds that don't sound very safe?'  
'We will set them onto camp Jupiter. If they all go to the city, Connor and I will have to improvise. If they all stay in the camp, we have a plan.' Annabeth sighed.  
'I guess we'll have to trust you. But Travis?'  
'Yes?'  
'Try not to set the entire camp on fire if you can help it.'

At nine A.M, three hours after the mini buses departed from Long Island, they arrived at Camp Jupiter. The campers got out of the mini buses, most of them still yawning. Connor walked to the other minivan to help Travis with the boxes filled with dangerous birds.  
They put all three of them on the ground. Travis looked up. 'So. all get behind the minivans, please. We are going to release the creatures.' A few campers yelped. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Have fun with your chickens, boys,' she said, while she walked around the vans. The other campers made confused noises.  
Connor sighed. 'Shh.' he slid open one of the boxes, while Connor opened the other one. 'Stay quiet now,' Travis whispered. Together, they opened the box with the third bird.   
Wow, they really look like chickens, Annabeth thought to herself. Connor and Travis muttered something to the birds before slowly walking back to the vans. With a speed that was just creepy to look at, the birds ran to camp Jupiter.  
When they were gone, Annabeth smirked. 'So. Now you chickens went to camp Jupiter. Do we have to wait now?' she asked. Travis and Connor nodded.   
'Until we hear the first birds' sound.'  
'Do you know how that sounds?'  
'Somewhat. Now stop asking questions, we know what we're doing.'

Reyna was still asleep when the first bird started softly humming. She opened her eyes and slowly got up. The sound she heard outside got louder. She stepped out of bed. It got even louder. She grabbed her sword from her night stand. Still in her pajamas, she walked out of her room. On the other side of the hallway, Frank opened his door. 'What's that?' he asked. Reyna shrugged.   
'I don't know. I have never heard anything like it.' She strengthened the grip on her sword. 'But we are going to look outside. Follow me.'   
When they stepped through the door, they saw that most of the soldiers were already outside. The sound had gotten even louder. 'Reyna! What is that sound!?' A centurion who came running up to the door yelled. Reyna looked at him. He closed his mouth and straightened his back. 'Get your cohort in order,' Reyna commanded. She stepped past the centurio.   
She looked around and sighed. 'Centurio's! Get your cohorts in order!' she commanded. Immediately, centurion's started to run around, trying to find all of the campers of their cohorts.   
After a few seconds, the new roman oracle came running down the small street. 'Reyna! Reyna! There are more holy chickens and I think that one of them might be producing this... sound!' He coughed. Reyna turned her head towards him. 'Stay here. Frank, you make sure they all get in order!' She yelled over her shoulder.  
She walked down the street, towards the pen of holy chickens. She didn't even bother counting them. It was very clear that one of them was producing the ear-piercing sound that was now as loud as a fire alarm. Without hesitation, she stepped over to it, with her sword raised.   
Before she could strike, she felt a hand on her arm. 'Stop!' she heard the new oracle say. 'They're holy chickens! We cannot kill them, even if they are intruders!' she said with panic in her voice. Reyna stared at her. 'Cherryl, that bird is clearly a monster. We need to expel it.'  
'Don't you remember what happened when those guys from the navy threw the holy chickens into the sea?'  
'That was in the fourth century.'  
'Reyna! We can't risk it! It'll stress out my chickens!' Reyna took a deep breath.   
'Alright, then. But we need to get that out.' Without bothering to listen to more of the oracles' screaming, she picked up the chicken.  
For a few seconds, it went silent. Yet, then the storm chicken jumped to action. Reyna and the oracle were blown away, with the first bird and all. The oracle screamed and started crying 'I told you! Their mad!' The oracle yelled. Reyna pushed her away.   
'Get to the cohorts!' she commanded. The oracle listened. Still crying, she ran away. Reyna stared at the chicken, that had flown into the sky, up onto the building of cohort seven. She knew exactly what it was going to do. Reyna picked up a rock and threw it at it's head, trying to knock it out before it could start a storm powerful enough to take the building down.  
She hit it's head with the rock - but that did not work the way she wanted. Instead of being knocked out, the chicken made up a bigger tiny storm before jumping of the roof and onto Reyna's shoulder.   
Half of building eleven got destroyed. Reyna bit her lip. With one chicken in her arms and another on her shoulder, she started to walk back to the central square where the cohorts were gathering (Well, Reyna hoped they were already gathered).  
Yet, she felt like it wasn't done yet. Of course, she was right. The third and final magical bird came running up behind her. This time, she did not hesitate. She dropped the first bird and kicked the third away. It opened its' mouth, which caused a gust of fire to come out of it. Yet, it did not hit one of the buildings.   
The first bird started humming again. Quickly, she picked both that and the third chicken up, before continuing her way down to the square.  
While this all was going on, Travis, Connor and Annabeth had sneaked up on to the chicken pen, all with a wooden box in their arms. 'So, you only told all of us to come because of the drama and because you thought all counselors wanted to be there?' she asked. Connor nodded, while putting the pen open. In the distance, they saw a gust of fire going up into the air. 'Alright, the pen is open,' Travis whispered. They begun to run past the back of the buildings, to the main square.  
Reyna came walking up the square, with the chickens. She heard the oracle cry and scream. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Yes, the new oracle was good at predicting the future, but she flew into panic way to easily. Frank was looking over the cohorts. 'Are those the reason for the sound?' he asked. He sounded confused - Reyna couldn't blame him.  
'Yes. We need to get rid of them.'  
'We can help!' She heard behind her. Travis came running up to her with his box. He softly got the first chicken out of Reyna's arms and put it into the box. Connor and Annabeth did the same thing with the second and third chicken.   
Reyna let out a breath. 'Alright. They're in boxes know. First of all, how did they get here, and second, what are we going to do with them?'  
'We don't know how they came to be and we are going to bring them back to a pet shop.' Reyna tilted her head. 'Well. Thanks,' she bit in Travis face. 'How... fortunate that you guys just showed up when we needed you.' Connor shrugged.  
'Welp. No problem, bye!' With their boxes of chickens, the greeks ran away.  
'Let me get this straight. We acted like we saved the day so Reyna could not punish us right then and there, right?' Annabeth asked. Travis and Connor nodded.   
'Yep. Now, we will bring these away to a place that is definitely not a pet shop, and then we'll wait until Camp Jupiter strikes back,' Connor answered.  
'If they strike back. I mean, if it really worked, everyone there now believes we have nothing to do with it, right?'  
'No, Travis. These people are also smart, they'll figure it out,' Annabeth answered in Connors' place. Travis rolled his eyes. 'Well, me and Connor will think of another plan if that would happen,' he fired back.


	120. Back In My Day, Demigods Were The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A not-so-casual day with Chirons' first students.

Chiron was standing outside his cave. In his arms, he held the three- month-old Asclepius. The baby was happily cooing up at him. Chiron sighed. 'Not crying now, huh, small one?' He sighed. Asclepius had been crying through most of the night, making it impossible to sleep.  
Suddenly, he sensed something. It felt like other demigods entering the forest. He stepped closer to the edge of the forest and looked around. There was seemingly no-one. Chiron stepped closer to his cave again. He did not know whether the demigods were new or not.   
While he was tucking Asklepius into his crib, so that he would not be outside if it did come to fighting, someone threw the door open. 'Chiron!' a familiar voice yelled. Asclepius started crying. Chiron sighed and looked at the door.   
'Hello, Perseus,' He said, while softly rocking Asclepius around. 'Shh. It's alright. What's wrong, Perce?'  
'Something is going on on the farm!' Chiron smiled at him.   
'I'll help you figure it out. Just wait a few minutes, please,' He answered, while still trying to get Asclepius to quiet down.   
After a few minutes, Asclepius stopped crying. Chiron tucked him into his crib. After that, he walked to his living room. Perseus was sitting at the dinner table. When Chiron opened his mouth to ask what was going on, his door flew open again and Dionysus bursted inside.   
'Chiron! Something is going on in the forests around mount Nyssa!' he yelled.   
'Be quiet!' Chiron sissed. He pointed at the nursery. Dionysus nodded. 'Yeah. But...'   
'I'll listen to Perseus first, alright?' Chiron said.   
'But...'  
'Dionysus, please.' Chiron turned to Perseus again. 'So, Perseus, tell me.'   
'Well, I was sitting by the beach with my mom, when I saw something bubbling under the water surface. For a few seconds, I thought I saw something black swimming around, but it disappeared. That evening, it suddenly turned completely dark, earlier than it was supposed to be. The night after that too. So I thought I might come and ask you if you knew what was going on...' Chiron slowly nodded.   
'Hm. Dionysus, have you seen anything like that or something completely different?'  
'Same thing. But, eh, I was in the village when it went dark. I decided to go back - I know the forest in and out, so finding a way was no trouble. When I passed a tree, I heard someone cry and I found this boy that... I had seen around the village, sometimes, often. I brought him along when I decided to go your way, because I wanted to leave as quick as possible. So...' Chiron bit his lip.   
'Where is he?' Dionysus motioned for him to come outside. Chiron walked outside. Perseus stepped next to Dionysus. 'So now you're just bringing along boys, aren't you?' he whispered. Dionysus shrugged. 'I mean, he is not, eh... alright, maybe, but...' Perseus snickered.   
'How sweet.' Dionysus blushed.   
'Shut up.' They stepped outside.   
Chiron was talking to a boy who was about Dionysus' age outside. Perseus clutched Dionysus' name. 'What's his name? What's his name!?'  
'Ampelos.' Perseus snickered again.  
'Really?'  
'Wasn't there this girl in your village called Agatha?' he asked, absolutely innocent (Of course). Perseus shrugged. 'Maybe. You know, he's kinda cute.'   
'Perseus, please stop.' Dionysus hid part of his face behind his hands. Perseus laughed out loud.   
'Yeah, Agatha is cute, but I can't see her a lot of the time. She has to stay inside, you know?' Dionysus shook his head and raised an eyebrow. 'I find that weird, to be honest.' Perseus sighed. 'Why?' Dionysus shrugged.  
'I just seems weird, you know? For woman and girls to Always be inside. I mean, there is no real reason for it.' Perseus shrugged as well.  
'I guess you're right. Yet, as I was saying...' At that moment, Dionysus got tackled by Ampelos.   
'Dio! I can stay!' the new kid kissed him on the cheek. Dionysus blushed even worse than before. Perseus laughed. '''Yeah, Yeah, it's nothing, Perseus.''' Chiron sighed again.   
'Quiet down, please. We need to find out what causes the early nights. I haven't noticed it yet. Get inside and please tell me everything you know.'  
They did. By Perseus' beach, the early darkness had started earlier than at mount Nyssa. At both settlements, people had quickly started to panic. 'I hope they haven't started sacrificing humans,' Perseus muttered. Ampelos shivered and clutched Dionysus' arm.   
Chiron slowly nodded. 'Hm. I'll take a look in my books, because I do not know what this all is about. I think Apollo has something to do with it, but I am not sure. Yet' - he took a small pause - 'We cannot neglect your training. Come on, go to the training grounds. Yes, Ampelos you too.'  
All three of them left. Chiron coughed and walked to his kitchen to take a small drink of water. Just when he wanted to take a sip, he heard crying coming from the nursery. He sighed again. 'Why did I ever start working with children?' he muttered.   
With Asclepius in his arms and a book clenched under his armpit, he walked to the training square. Perseus had already taken out his sword (He had a real one now - no more wooden training swords). Dionysus and Ampelos were just standing by the side, watching. Perseus knocked the head of his strawman clear off. Ampelos yelped and ducked behind his boyfri... I mean Dionysus' back.   
Chiron slowly nodded. 'Well, Perseus, very well done. You've really been training.' Perseus nodded enthusiastically. 'Of course! I want to be the best!' He dropped the sword and looked at Chiron with stars in his eyes. 'Do you think I'll be the best?' Chiron shrugged.  
'If you train enough.' He patted Perseus on his shoulder. Perseus nodded with such a serious expression that Chiron had trouble to keep a straight face. 'I will, Chiron.' Chiron nodded and then had to turn around before Perseus saw him laugh. He trotted over to Dionysus. 'Come on, he's only twelve, Chiron,' the older demigod said. Chiron rolled his eyes.  
'Which makes you two years older than him and not really any wiser. Now, what'd you do?' Chiron noticed he sounded slightly annoyed. Dionysus sighed. 'Well...' without warning, a whole bush of ivy seemed to jump out of the forest. The plants grew around Dionysus's shoulders at a very quick pace. Chirons' eyes went wide.  
'Good, good.'  
'He once scared a few nymphs with it. I don't think they liked it very much,' Ampelos mumbeld. Dionysus shrugged. He gave Ampelos the side-eye. 'Those nymphs are afraid of everything.' Chiron sighed (again. These children steal all the air out of my body, he thought). 'You might not want to try and make enemies with these, Dionysus,' he said. Dionysus shrugged.   
'Hm. It might be useful, since I am not really handy with physical weapons,' he muttered, while he inched closer to the forest. Chiron wanted to sigh again, but he hesitated. Instead, he rolled his eyes. 'Alright.' Dionysus shrugged and disappeared into the forest. Chiron stayed behind with the baby in his arms and Ampelos still standing there.  
'Are you not going to follow him?' Chiron asked. He shook his head.   
'In a while, maybe.' Ampelos grabbed his own arm. Chiron chuckled.   
'Hm. Well, I think you saw Di more often than in that forest.' Ampelos blushed a little.  
'Yeah, in the village. I was seeking Nyssa in the forest when I got lost.'  
'Perce! Hold your sword higher! So, you just saw him around?' Chiron answered.  
'Will do, Chiron!'  
'Well...' Ampelos got redder. 'Maybe a little more than just... seeing.' Ampelos looked at Asclepius. 'Oh, he's adorable. Does he have magical powers yet?' Chiron shook his head.  
'No, but I believe he is supposed to be a healer. At least, that is what Apollo thinks.' Chiron noticed that Ampelos was changing the subject, but he did not let the kid get away with that that easily. 'And what do you want to do later?'   
'Don't know. But I know Nys is ambitious, so I might go along with him when he figures out what to do.'   
'So you want to stay with him?' Ampelos covered his face.  
'Yeah. Well... I was Always afraid of the forest. Until he showed me around the forest on mount Nyssa a little, then...' he stopped talking. 'I think I'll go find him know. Don't you need to figure out the darkness phenomenon?' before Chiron could answer, he darted into the forest.   
Chiron sighed. 'Guess I do have to do that,' he muttered. 'Perseus?' the kid turned around.  
'What?'  
'Don't you think you'll need a shield someday?' Perseus' eyes went wide.   
'I mean, yeah, but my trainer at home told me I wasn't ready yet...' Chiron shrugged.  
'I think you can try it. Grab one of those training shields over there while I bring Asclepius away (the baby had fallen asleep in his arms again), and I'll show you what to do.'  
After two hours of training with Perseus, Chiron finally had time to look through his books (Ampelos had offered to make dinner for the four of them, so he did not have to worry about that). After half an hour, he sighed and closed the first one. 'Dinners' ready,' he heard Ampelos whisper behind him. Immediately, Perseus and Dionysus (who had previously been outside) stood in the room. Chiron sighed (For the tenth millionth time). 'Dinner' was apparently the magic word.   
'So I haven't found anything yet,' Chiron told his pupils. Perseus sighed, while he put some potatoes into his mouth. 'Too bad.'  
'Perseus, please speak without food in your mouth. Yet, yes, it is not exactly what I hoped the outcome would be. But...' Perseus suddenly yelped. Before Chiron had the time to ask why, he realised the room had gotten way darker than it was just a minute ago. Quickly, he opened the door.   
'Hm. So this is what you three were talking about,' he mumbled, while stepping outside. Cautiously, the three kids followed him. 'Do... do you think it is serious?' Ampelos asked. He was holding on to Dionysus' arm for dear life. Chiron tilted his head. 'Could be, but I am not sure. Apollo acts... weird, sometimes.'  
Like the sun god had waited for his que, he fell down from the sky. The demigods screamed. Chiron just rolled his eyes. 'Good morning, Apollo, my lord. Does this mean you do know something about the early edgin.... I mean darkness?' Apollo turned his head towards him. Chiron raised an eyebrow. 'Is that a small line of coal on your eyelids, like a lot of ladies have been doing?'  
Apollo rolled his eyes. 'It looks kinda fancy, don't you think? Anyway, I just wanted to kind of see what would happen if the sun went down... earlier.' Chiron took a deep breath.   
'Well, it might look nice. Yet, I don't know how honest that explanation was, but you should stop it.' Apollo shrugged.   
'Yeah.' He glanced at the children. Perseus had one eyebrow raised (they learn so fast, Chiron thought). 'Can't… can't they go inside?' Apollo asked Chiron. Chiron looked over his shoulder. 'Hey! Go inside, you three! Put some candles on!' Perseus saluted. They all walked inside.   
'Chiron?'  
'Hm?'  
'So, I lost a bet against Hermes and he told me to make it dark earlier for a week. That's what happened.' He flipped his hair over his shoulder. Chiron sighed. 'Stop it. Tell Hermes that the mortals are killing each other.'  
'Are they… killing each other!?'  
'Not yet, but he doesn't know that. Just stop.' Apollo nodded and disappeared. Chiron walked back inside. 'I think it will be done tomorrow, kids. They listen to me sometimes.' The three older demigods nodded. The shine of the candles lit their faces up in a slightly creepy way. Ampelos looked pretty giddy. He kissed Dionysus on his cheek again. 'This isn't so bad!' Chiron stared at the children, and sighed again - Yep, they were really his children now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know in some versions Ameplos is a satyr, but in others he is a regular human and that's what he is in this story, don't worry.


	121. Braces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demigods Need To Get Braces Now and Then.

Chiron clapped in his hands. 'Come on, step into the vans, please,' He said, while motioning the demigods into the vans. Lacy hopped into one of them. She pulled her brother Jack along. 'Come on! Come on!'  
Jack groaned. 'Well, you have a reason to be happy, you're braces are going to be removed.' Jack pointed at his braceless mouth. 'I am going to get them.' he shuddered. 'Hm.' Chiron pushed softly against his shoulder. 'Come on, Jack, it's good for your teeth. Get in.' Jack rolled his eyes and stepped into the van.  
Chiron turned around, to Dionysus. 'Are you dreading chaperoning these kids this much or are you being a drama queen again?' Dionysus rolled his eyes.  
'Thanks for the trust, although I have to agree that I am not particularly enjoying this.' Chiron smiled at him. 'Get in. We can just about fit all sixteen kids plus the two of us into this van. Also, you have to drive.' Dionysus sat down on the driver's seat, rolling his eyes so far back that Chiron wondered if it was healthy. 'I had expected as much.'  
Lacy let her tongue go past her teeth. 'I think it will feel weird to suddenly... not have braces,' she said to no-one in particular. Miranda, from the Demeter cabin, nodded, while she also slid her tongue past her teeth. Jack grimaced. 'Yeah, yeah, really weird,' he muttered. Lacy patted him on the shoulder. 'Come on. It will hurt for only a few days!'  
'In which I cannot eat anything substantial.'  
'Well, fries.'  
'A diet of fries is not exactly healthy, is it?'  
'Well, no, but you can also eat lettuce.'  
'Dead-man's' food.'  
'Hey, Johnson, if you really despise getting nice teeth that much, you could also just not get braces to save three days of your diet,' Dionysus muttered. Chiron punched him against his arm. 'Are you afraid of braces, Jack?'  
Jack blushed. 'No,' he answered. An Hecate-girl in the back snickered.  
'Awh, come on, Jack, it's not that bad.' Jack scoffed.  
'Shut up, Sarah.'  
'You wish Rose was here?' she teased. Jack didn't answer (or say anything the rest of the ride, for that matter).  
When they arrived in New York city, Jack, Sarah and a boy called Jamyny (His mother swore it was pronounced 'Jamie') Helped Chiron out of the car, while Dionysus was trying to get them into one line on the other side of the car. Jamyny and Sarah disappeared to stand in line when they were done. Jack lingered by Chirons' wheelchair. Chiron looked at Jack.  
'Jack?'  
'...yeah?'  
'You are scared, aren't you?'  
'Hm.'  
'Do you know Hazel?'  
'You mean that girl who is part of the seven? Of course.'  
'The first time she went to a modern dentist, she cried. That's of course because dentists in the thirties were horrible, but...' He let the words linger in the air. Jack stared at him with open mouth. 'She was... so scared?'  
'Yes. Please don't tell her I told you,' Chiron said with a wink. Jack nodded and skidadelled to the other side of the van. He slid into the line.  
Chiron rolled around the van. 'Alright. As you all can see, we are standing in front of a orthodontist. That is slightly different than a dentist, because they only look at braces and not at the overall state of your teeth. Lacy and Miranda will have their braces removed, Jack will have them placed and the rest is only her for a check-up. Those who are only here for a check-up, please wait in the waiting room on the rest.'  
'Can't we walk around New York?' Sarah asked. Chiron shook his head.  
'No. I am too afraid I'll lose you all and that we'll be stuck in here for days.' Sarah rolled her eyes.  
'Yeah, yeah.'  
Dionysus and Chiron ushered them all inside. Chiron looked at his nephew, who was plucking his sweater. 'Why did we have to wear clothes mortals often wear again?' Chiron laughed.  
'You know why.' He put his hand on Dionysus' shoulder. 'Come on, it's only a day. And about 17.885 days after that,' he answered. Dionysus chuckled.  
'Thanks for the uplifting speech, uncle.'  
'You're welcome, Nephew.' They stepped into the orthodontists' office, after the campers.  
All thirteen of them sat in their chairs, waiting for the orthodontists. Miranda, Lacy and Jack were called in first, because they would be there the longest.  
Jack was trembling on his feet. He shook his head. He once thought a hellhound. He had fended of multiple smaller monsters during his trip to camp Half-blood. Yet, somehow, this scared him a lot. Lacy was called to go into one of the chairs. He swallowed, knowing that he would be next.  
After two minutes, a regular kid walked out. Jack heard an orthodontist calling his name. He slowly got up and basically ran into the office (he honestly did not want to hear Sarah laugh). The orthodontist looked surprised when she saw him. 'Well, hello. That was quick.' She pointed to the dentist chair. 'Sit down, please.' Jack bit his lip and sat down in the dentist chair.  
'So. You need clasp bracket?' Jack shrugged, which was difficult to do in a laid-down chair. The dentist did not answer. 'Alright. You have had two appointments here before, nice and dandy.' She clapped in her hands, which made jake veer up. She turned around and gave him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but made Jack feel like he was in a horror movie.  
'Calm down. Come on, it's not that scary. It doesn't even hurt.' Jack gave her a single nod.  
'Of course not,' a murmured. The orthodontist rode her chair over to him, which made him shiver.  
'Open your mouth, please,' she said, while putting on plastic gloves. Jack opened his mouth. 'Wider.'  
The orthodontist grabbed her dentist utensils. She sighed. 'Come, I can't see your teeth like this!' Jack opened his mouth as wide as he dared. The orthodontist started looking around, with her mirror on a stick.  
'So, are all of those your brothers and sisters?' She asked.  
'Nuo.' Jack wondered why she decided to ask him something while she was pricking around with her metal utensils. The orthodontist raised her eyebrows. 'Hm. What are you, then? A special type of school? Are those two adults friends, or something?' Jack felt like punching her, but he didn't act on that desire (obviously, punching a dentist sounds like a bad idea. They bite).  
'Wer a champ.'  
'Yes, yes, you're a champ.' The dentist reached behind her to grab something from the table. 'Here, I'll just put these in your mouth' - she showed him a couple of cotton tubes - 'and then I'll first put some glue on your teeth, champ.' Jack pushed her hands and utensils away and got up. 'No, I... huh.... I don't want it.' He shook his head (getting up to fast from a dentist chair is not nice).  
The orthodontist smiled at him. 'Can you wait here, darling?' She said. After that, she walked away, leaving Jack on the dentist chair. Jack looked around. There was a window next to him. He wondered whether he could escape via that window if it was really necessary.  
The orthodontist walked into the waiting room. She made direct eye contact with Chiron. 'Sir? Would you mind keeping the child company? Because I believe he is nervous.' Chiron sighed.  
'Do you mean Jack?'  
'I believe that was his name.'  
Chiron looked around the room. There were still nine children waiting to get their check-up. He looked at Dionysus, who was staring out the window. Chiron tapped him on the shoulder. Dionysus turned quickly turned his head around. 'What!?'  
'Don't be scared.' Dionysus rolled his eyes.  
'What's the issue, Chiron?'  
'Could you please comfort Jack?' Dionysus gave him a confused look.  
'Can't you...'  
'Well, I want to keep my eye on the others.' Dionysus stood up.  
'Well, I guess.' The orthodontist smiled at him. He followed her to the room where Jack was still sitting on the dentist chair. Jacks' expression got even more sour, if that was possible.  
'Come, please sit down again!' The orthodontist chirped. Jack shot her an furious look and refused to do so. The orthodontist went to grab a new pair of gloves. Meanwhile, Dionysus moved closer to the dentist chair.  
'Having these things placed will be less painful in the long run.' Jack turned around.  
'What does that even mean!?' He didn't even care that he was being rude to a god. It didn't do a lot to make Dionysus mood better, but the god stayed calm.  
'I mean that those three days your mouth will hurt are better than having bad teeth for the rest of your life.' Jack shrugged.  
'So what? I... I don't want her picking around in my mouth with her metal knifes!'  
'She won't, because she doesn't have any metal knives. Listen, Johnson, the actual placement of the braces doesn't hurt.'  
'How do you know that? You are not exactly the god of dentists!'  
'Because this is not the first time I have been on orthodontist duty and this is also not the first time I have comforted someone who needed to get braces.' The orthodontist came back with her new pair of gloves. Jack gave her another nasty look.  
'Jack, it is not like She will be disappointed because you need braces.'  
'Of course Aphro... my mother will not be disappointed. Yet, maybe I am disappointed in her for not just fixing my teeth!' he said, slightly to loud. The orthodontist raised one eyebrow.  
'I believe that is impossible, Jack,' She said, in an uplifting tone, which did not made Jack feel any better. 'Ma'am, I'll call you in. Could you please leave us here?' Dionysus requested. Jack nodded. The orthodontist shrugged and left the room.  
'Johnson, please listen to me. I know Aphrodite can be a forgetful ditz, but... I think it's better like this.'  
'How?'  
'Because the gods can never fully be in someone's' life. If she would give you perfect teeth, then it can't be the only thing she does for you, and... his voice faded. 'It's more messy than you think. But, Jack, I think she will appreciate it if you get those braces and take care of your teeth.'  
Jack shrugged and stared out the window. He thought he understood what Dionysus was saying. He also remembered that Dionysus did not have... the best mortal life. 'I'll... do it, I guess. Although I don't agree.' Dionysus nodded.  
'It really won't hurt, Jack. I'll stay here.' Jack nodded. Dionysus went to get the orthodontist.  
Chiron was looking around the waiting room. It had been an hour now. About six kids had gone through their check-ups. Most children were reading, two others were talking to each other. Yet, he felt in his bones that something was about to go wrong - after four thousand years, you can feel it.  
At that moment, Sarah came walking back into the room after her check-up. 'Well, they took out my braces immediately!' She bragged. No-one really reacted. Sarah smiled. Another girl rolled her eyes. 'We know you used the mist on your mouth, Sarah.' Sarah shrugged.  
'Alright then,' she remarked. She sat down next to Chiron and folded her arms over each other.  
Lacy came prancing into the room. She smiled widely. An Ares kid looked up from his magazine. 'Looks nice, Lacy.' She Smiled and blushed a little. Sarah scoffed.  
'What if I used the mist on her, huh?' Chiron sighed.  
'Come on, Sarah, calm down a little.' Sarah shrugged.  
'Why?'  
'We'll have to be here for some more time.'   
She jumped up. 'So what?'   
'Sarah, sit down please.'  
Sarah shook her head. 'No. I'll just go home.' She stomped out of the dentists' clinic.   
Chiron stared at the door. 'Aren't you going to follow her?' Lacy asked. Chiron smiled at her.  
'I'll check up on her in about fifteen minutes.' Lacy nodded.  
'Alright.'

The rest of the appointment went calmly, which Chiron thought was a miracle. Usually, he and Dionysus were constantly walking around through the clinic because of scared or unwilling kids. As Chiron expected, Sarah was waiting right next to the bus. She slipped into it without saying a thing.  
Lacy gave Jack a hug. 'So?'   
'Kind of strains.'  
'That'll be over in a few days.'  
She put her arm around his shoulders. 'Come, let's go home and get some fries.'


	122. The Romantic Underworld Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a wedding going on in the Underworld and Percy and Annabeth are invited.

Percy slid his arms around Annabeths' shoulders. Her head was laying on his chest. 'Hm. I am really hoping we can just chill today.' Annabeth nodded.   
'Me too, but that sounds like famous last words.' Percy snickered.   
'Yeah, you're right.' He reached for the box of chocolates that was laying next to them on the couch. 'Want another Ferrero Rocher?' Annabeth nodded and kissed his neck.  
'Yes, although I don't understand where you got them.'  
'The Stolls can get you a lot.'  
'They should have been called Fred and George.'  
'Thinks everyone in camp.'   
'Maybe.' She put the Ferrero Rocher into her mouth. Percy bit of a small bit.  
'You need to properly taste it, Annabeth.' Annabeth shook her head. 'You cannot shake your head or nod when it is laying on my chest.'  
'I just did. And I think you should just swallow it.'   
'Hm.' Annabeth put her head closer to his. 'You want to watch a movie?'  
'No, this is fine, right?' Percy muttered. Annabeth hummed.  
'Yes, it's fine.'

 

Nico held Will by the hand. 'Are you sure you want to bring Percy and Annabeth? I believe they just wanted to be together today.' Nico shrugged.  
'They for sure don't want to miss this!' Nico answered. Will shrugged.  
'Well...'  
'I am going to knock on the door!' Nico announced as soon as they stood in front of the door, cutting of Will. 'Wha... Oh, you're already doing it,' he said. Will sighed.   
Inside of the cabin, Percy heard knocking on his door. He groaned. 'Go away!'  
'Percy, come out. It's important.'  
'This quiet moment is more important!' Annabeth answered, while hugging Percy even closer. They heard something by the lock. The next moment, Nico stood in the cabin. 'Come... oh.'   
Annabeth quickly sat up straight. Percy did the same. 'Eh... I believe I had locked the door.' Nico acted like he saw nothing. 'Yes, and I got the key.' Will stood behind Nico.   
'Sorry,' He mouthed.   
'Not your fault,' Annabeth mouthed back. 'Nico, we really...'  
'Silena and Beckendorf are getting married. In the Underworld. Right now. I am here to invite you.' Annabeth veered up from the couch.  
'What?' She looked at Will, who nodded.  
'Why didn't you say so before?' Percy said, while picking up his box of chocolates. Nico shrugged. 'I wanted to say it on the right time.'  
They immediately departed to the Underworld. 'Are we the only ones coming?'   
'No, I brought Clarisse too. But not any other people. Then Chiron will notice.' Percy nodded.   
'Alright. Ferrero Rocher?' Nico took one.   
They entered the Hades cabin. Clarisse was already waiting inside. 'Death guy, do I have to wait any longer?'  
'No, Clarisse.' Nico punched the button next to his bed. The staircase down to the Underworld appeared. 'We are leaving right now. It's a four minutes walk.'  
At the end of that four minutes walk, all the ferrero rochers where gone. Percy threw the empty box into Nico's trash can. 'Well, I guess we do not need to go back to our date then,' he whispered to Annabeth. Nico rolled his eyes. He went to open his bedroom door, but Persephone stormed in before he reached out his hands. 'Oh! Good! Those friends are here! Come, all three of you! Nico, Will, put on your clothes!' Nico groaned.   
'Come on,' Will whispered. Persephone pulled Percy, Annabeth and Clarisse out of the room. 'Come. I got clothes for you.' Clarisse blinked.   
'Clothes?' Persephone let her eyes go over her dirty sweatshirt and uncombed hair.  
'You do not want to go to the wedding of your Aphrodite-friend in those clothes, right?' she asked. Clarisse shrugged. 'Maybe?' Annabeth looked at Percy.  
'So much for a calm day,' she whispered. Percy sighed.   
'Famous last words, as you said before.' Annabeth chukeled.  
Persephone coerced them into a room. There was a nice, blue suit that Percy recognised hanging on one hanger. 'Hey, that is my regular suit!' Persephone patted him on the shoulder. 'Yup. Put it on while I pick a dress with the girls.' She closed a curtain between them (She had pulled it seemingly out of nowhere), leaving Percy alone with his suit.   
She waved her hands, which caused racks and racks of clothing to appear. 'Over there are your sizes,' she said, while pointing at Annabeth, 'And those are yours,' She continued, while pointing to Clarisse. Clarisses' expression got sour. 'Why are they all pink, purple and yellow?' Persephone shrugged. 'Why not?'  
'Because they'll make me look like a wedding cake. Also, don't bridesmaids usually have a theme? Chosen by the bride?' Persephone started pushing racks around.   
'Well, Silena told me you could pick whatever. Do you want a blue dress, then?'  
'I usually wear a suit.' Persephone shrugged and pulled a specific rack out of the forest of racks. 'Here you go.'  
While Clarisse was rummaging through the suits, Persephone turned to Annabeth. 'Do you want a suit too, or is a dress fine?'  
'A dress is fine. Blue or aquamarine would be nice. Persephone pulled a random dress out of the racks and gave it to Annabeth. 'There you go. Call me when you're done.'  
'Persephone?' She heard five seconds later. She turned around and saw that all three kids were already done. 'Oh. Well, I'll just give all three of you a small bit of make-up and then we're done. Silena hired a hairdresser, so I do not have to worry about that.' She pulled some eyeliner and mascara out of her pocket.   
'There are hairdressers in the Underworld?' Percy asked.   
'I have a personal one and there are a few in Elysium.'   
'Oh, alright then,' Percy answered, While Persephone gave him a small layer of mascara.  
Ten minutes later, they were all sitting by the hairdressers. Nico and Will had finished putting on their suits a well. They had Lee and Castor in tow. The hairdressers (Who were all ghosts) looked at them. 'Hm. So, the purple eyed blondie, the grey eyed blondie and the brunette over here, please. The rest can go to Terry and Katrina.'   
Annabeth sat down on one of the chairs. 'Would you like some tea?' the hairdresser asked. She shook her head. 'Can't.' The hairdresser shrugged.   
'Alright, then. Say, have you heard the story about Olivia? Well, she...' that was the moment Annabeth zoned out to think about the wedding.   
She didn't know for how long the hairdresser was busy, but she did know that she had a few difficult-looking braids on her head when she was done and also that she was thinking about the music by that time. She got up from the chair. 'Thanks ma'am.'  
'Annabeth, come!'   
'Yes, Nico, I am coming!' She walked over to Nico, which went a lot less fast than usual (Dresses. Hm).   
'Where's Clarisse?'   
'Already by the bride, because she is a bridesmaid and all.' Annabeth nodded.   
'Why did Silena en Beckendorf choose to marry now?'  
'Because they are both nineteen now. Now walk on, please.' Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'You should try running in a dress, Nico.'  
They reached the throne room, where the ceremony was to be held. Annabeth raised both of her eyebrows. 'Hades was fine with this?'   
'Well, our crew hangs around the palace a lot and Persephone thought it was the proper way to do it. So, yeah, Hades was sort of fine with this. Although I don't know if he's the one officiating the marriage.' Annabeth sighed.  
'Cool.'   
'Short answer.' Persephone came running over to the little group.  
'Hello, I see you're done dressing up! Alright, Nico, Will, Castor, Lee, over there at the front please!' Annabeth, Percy, one chair back. Also, Will, Annabeth, Percy, don't forget not to eat anything!' They all nodded in unison, while pushing through the room, to their chairs. There were a surprising amount of people in the room.   
'Who are all these people?' Percy asked while he looked around the room. Most of them were already seated. Castor and Lee turned around in their seats. 'Well, the people in that section are my siblings,' Castor said while he pointed at a corner in the middle of the room.   
'Behind them sit some more people from Elysium, the other next door neighbours,' Lee told them.  
'Does that imply that all of the Dionysus demigods from history are... their neighbours?' Annabeth asked. She didn't even mind that she had a not very enthusiastic look on her face. 'Yes, because we all live in the same house. Now, those people over there, closer at the front, are real friends of the groom and bride in the Underworld. Me, Lee, Nico, Will and the two of you also belong to that.'   
'On the other side of the Dionysus crew sit some other close neighbours. Over there are some people from the aisles of the blessed. They seem to think that they deserve to be at any party being held. Yet, they are all very nice - aisle of the blessed, and all. Those people back there...'   
Lee was cut off by the sudden swelling of music - the choir was singing. Annabeth believed the choir sang an ancient Greek marriage hymn. The doors opened (This time there was no imperial march. Apparently they fixed it) and the groom entered the throne room. Flowers started blooming all around the room. Nico gasped. He clutched Wills' hand.  
Beckendorf was wearing a simple suit that fit him very well. It looked classy. He walked to the front, and slowly turned around. The music became softer. More flowers started to grow around the throne room. Everyone turned while the bride entered the room.   
Silena had gone for a classical dress. It was snow white, with Silver on the sashes. The skirt was huge. She wore a veil that a princess would be jealous of. Her hair was clearly done up in a very chique hair do, with flowers and the veil worked into it in. She looked like a picture perfect daughter of Aphrodite on her wedding day - but with just that extra flair. She had Clarisse and another girl as her bridesmaids. The daughter of Ares fitted perfectly into the picture.   
She walked up to the front, until she was standing right next to Charlie. They smiled at each other in a way that made Annabeth feel warm and fuzzy inside. She felt Percy grabbing and squeezing her hand. She squeezed back.  
Hades appeared out of nowhere, in a suit that looked like he used it at every formal event. He clapped in his hands, even though everyone was already silent. The music stopped. Hades coughed. 'I have agreed to officiate this marriage, but I am going to do that quickly so you two can start dancing. I assume someone gave me this power. So, by the power vested in me, will you, Charles Beckendorf, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife until I doom you to eternal punishment for your shenanigans?'  
Beckendorf clearly tried not to laugh. 'I do.' Hades turned to Silena.   
'And will you, Silena Beauregard, Take this man as your lawfully wedded husband until I want to ban you to Eternal punishment but am stopped by Persephone?' Silena gave him a dark look from under her veil, so that everyone in the room knew that she was probably the one going to be send to eternal punishment. 'I do,' She said, loud and clear.   
'Then you may now kiss the bride!' Hades said, sounding rather jolly out of nowhere. Beckendorf carefully pushed her veil away. Silena and Beckendorf kissed, while the entire room cheered. Percy shivered. 'Huh. Never knew that ghostly cheers sounded so hollow.'   
The bride and groom walked down the aisle. All of the guests were ushered out of the room. 'Out of palace and to Elysium! There is your party!' Hades yelled over their heads. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Hades will be Hades, I guess.'   
They marched to Elysium. The spirits from the fields of asphodel gave the procession confused glances - most of them didn't even remember what a wedding was, much less why they were so glamorous. But that didn't kill the happy mood. Just like on Olympus, in Poseidon's' palace and in most godly places really, there was a main square in Elysium (Gods, what is it with the author and main squares?). It was decorated like a dancing floor, with even more flowers by the sides. 'Persephone has outdone herself,' Percy whispered to Annabeth. She nodded.  
'I guess finally something exciting happens in here.' They cheered and clapped while Silena and Beckendorf took the floor and started dancing. Silena had put her veil off, so it did not hang in the way. When they were done, the bridesmaids entered the dancefloor. Clarisse and the other girl danced with each other. 'I did not know Clarisse could dance like that,' Will whispered to Nico. Nico beamed at him. 'Hm.' More people started to walk to the dancefloor - the ghosts rarely had a chance to dance, which was difficult for some of the victorian era ladies.   
Nico pulled Will along. 'I can't dance!'  
'That's a cliché thing to say, Nico. Come on!' Will put a hand on his hips. Clumsily, they swayed around. On the other side of the square, Annabeth and Percy started dancing as well.  
Annabeth slid her arms around Percy's shoulders. The music seemed to drift away (Which is also a cliché, but the author needs to show you this is romantic so be quiet). Percy pushed her head against his chest and closed his eyes. He kissed the top of her head. 'Hm. Well, it could have been less nice and quiet, right?' He felt Annabeth giggling.   
'Yes.' Percy breathed in deeply, through his nose.   
'Oh, I believe I smell Ferrero Rocher.' Annabeth laughed, louder this time. She wiggled out of Percy's grip a bit and kissed him on the mouth. When she let go, she looked him in the eyes. 'This, Percy, is what I call a nice, romantic night.'   
Behind them, The happy couple looked at each other like this was the best day of their... Lives? Whatever, you know what I mean. The light got darker - one can control the weather in the Underworld if one is Hades - and stars appeared.  
'I told you so,' persephone said to Hades. They were in the tower of the palace, overlooking the wedding. She klinked her glass to his. Hades rolled his eyes.  
'Whatever you say.' He turned away, to the window. What he didn't notice was that Persephone saw his little smile reflected in the curtainless windows.


	123. The Roaring Twenties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did the gods do during the Roaring twenties?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came with the idea for this one shot because I was thinking about Dionysus' reaction to the prohibition. There will be some mentions of the other aspects of the roaring twenties, but it will begin with the alcohol ban, which is slightly more for teens than I usually write. Be careful!

1919, mount Olympus, winter solstice  
Athena stretched while she was walking to the main dining hall. It was winter solstice, and her fellow Olympians had decided to throw a small party. Athena didn't complain; the war had been over for a few years and America became a rich country. The main square, which she had to cross over, was packed with gods, all in the new, wearable fashion of the age. Athena loved the shorter dresses - they made moving around way easier.  
She looked around to see of she could get a small glass of wine somewhere. Yet, she did not see anything like that. Her expression soured. She tapped the person closest to her on the shoulder. 'Say, Aphrodite, why is there no wine?' Aphrodite shrugged. 'No idea, but I don't think I have seen Dionysus in a few days either.' Athena bit her lip. Alright, so something was definitely wrong.  
She decided to go take a look at Dionysus' palace, which was quite close to the main square. She climbed up the high stairs to the palaces. Big lamps made the palaces bath in all the colours of the rainbow. Athena sighed. Even if something was wrong, the atmosphere was amazing.  
She opened the gate to Dionysus' front garden, which mostly belonged to Ariadne. The roses spread a nice scent that perfectly fit the romantic and thriving atmosphere. What ruined the effect, however, was the fact that the palace looked abandoned. Athena knocked on the front door and immediately pushed it open without waiting for an answer. 'Dionysus?' No answer. 'Dionysus!?' She yelled, louder this time. She heard something from a room further down the hallway. Athena walked through the hallway and threw the door open.  
'Athena?'  
'Dionysus, why have been M.I.A. for the last few days?'  
'I feel feverish.'  
'You're a god.' Athena walked through the room and put her hand on his forehead. Dionysus was standing by the wall and he was shorter than she was, so it wasn't very difficult. 'Hm. You really have a fever. That isn't good. It's weird, most of all, the mortals are partying a lot after all.' Dionysus shook his head. He pointed at a newspaper that was laying on a coffee table. 'That is the reason, I believe.'  
Athena picked up the paper. 'Prohibition... all alcohol, with exception of commune wine, will be illegal...' she read out loud. 'Yeah, that's not good.' She looked at the date. 'Wait, this is from two years ago!'  
'I've kept the paper. Yet, states are only now starting to actually apply it.' He slowly shook his head.  
'And you're dying as a result.'  
'I wouldn't say 'dying' per se, but I don't feel so good.'  
'Can't you do something about it?'  
'Not without angering Zeus.'  
'So nothing. Just stay inside and things will be fine,' the voice of their father said. He appeared out of nowhere. Dionysus gave him a dirty look. 'Get out.'  
'I can go wherever I want.'  
'I live here.'  
'Sh. Athena, come back to the main square.'  
'Dad, he is going to die.'  
'No, he won't. Come. You, stay here,' he said, vaguely gesturing to Dionysus. Dionysus gave him a neutral look, before simply disappearing. 'Hey!' Zeus yelled, like the eloquent man that he was. Athena decided that that was a time to leave the room, knowing that her father would be mad and Dionysus would be planning something.   
She walked back to the main square, where people had started dancing. Her good spirits started to recover - partly because of the music, partly because she knew that Dionysus would find someway to survive, knowing him.   
Apollo was walking around in New York, with Calliope on his arm. He was thriving. The music, dance, light, everything he stood for had gotten a boost in the last year. He smiled at Calliope. 'Isn't this one of the best places you've ever seen?' Calliope nodded and shrugged at the same time. 'I would not call it the best, but it is definitely up there.' Apollo sighed happily.   
'Well, I adore it. Oh, look, that over there seems like an okay club.' Calliope nodded, and they went in.   
In the club people were dancing, talking and laughing. Apollo felt like he got a boost - renewed energy ran through his body. He eyes sparkled. 'Calli, this is why I like this time and place. Everything just...'  
'Fuels your soul?'  
'Well, yes, but that sounds so morbid. Eh, could you wait here? I need to use the bathroom.' Calliope snickered and nodded. Apollo slipped away.  
When he tried to walk back into the small room, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Apollo turned around and looked into the eyes of the bartender. 'What's wrong?'he asked.  
'Be weary of the guy in the purple suit on the left when ordering alcohol.' Apollo's mouth fell open. 'Alcohol? But that's...'  
'A few days ago, some fellow introduced this stuff. It is nothing like what we had previously, but it works.' Apollo blinked.  
'Uh... I do not think you should be telling just every client that. Maybe be discreet about it.' he quickly walked away and tapped Calliope, who was talking to a young lady, on the shoulder.  
'I am leaving. It's important. Do you want to stay here?' Calliope raised one eyebrow.  
'I'll stay.'  
'Alright.' Apollo slipped out of the club.   
Once he stood outside, he looked around before slipping into a small alleyway. He swiftly got some water out of nowhere and dropped a drachma into it.  
'Iris, give me contact to Dionysus, please... Oh, hey, Dio. Say, what the heck is this thing I heard about illegal alcohol and why does it make me think of you?'  
'Because I was the one who came up with it.'  
'Why?'  
'It's this or I die. Also, it has spread through most of America already, so there's nothing I can do.' Apollo opened his mouth. Then closed it again. Then opened again.  
'Al...right.' He closed of the Iris-messeged and waved his hands. He appeared in his palace on Olympus and fell straight into his lounge chair. 'This is going to go wrong,' he whispered to himself.  
'So, Hades has set up a small business,' Persephone told her mother. Demeter and her daughter where walking through a forest, to let the trees grow. Demeter sighed. 'Hm. Did he?'  
'Yeah. Not on old forest grounds, I made sure of that.' Demeter nodded.  
'Yeah, I am sure you did.' Demeter stroked her daughters hair. Persephone sighed and smiled.   
'I love spring air.' She put her hand in a small bag. Her smile faded. 'Uh...'  
'You forgot your special pink lipstick made with pink roses in the Underworld.'  
'Well... Maybe?'  
'Go get it. Quick.' Persephone smiled and hugged Demeter. She turned around and opened a door to the Underworld, which tore a big hole in the soil - right then and there. She disappeared.   
Demeter sighed deeply and wiped her forehead. She shaked a little. The great war, followed by the roaring twenties, where cars and factories became more common, really pounded holes into nature. She took a deep breath.  
'So, aunt, you also feel the decay of nature, huh?'  
'Yes, Artemis, of course I do. Sometimes I feel the souls dripping out of crops, because of at how quick speed they need to grow for mortals these days.' She sighed.  
Artemis laughed bitterly. 'Hm. I understand. My woods and animals are not doing very good as well.' She shivered too. 'Apollo has been lending me soul-juice, though.' Demeter shivered again. 'Please do not call it soul-juice, it's kinda creepy. Do you know how Pan and Dionysus are doing?' Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes  
'Pans' spirit is still getting weaker and weaker. Dionysus is thriving, actually - illegal alcohol is how his cult started and I think he is sapping powers from his last life or something.' She shrugged. 'Whatever. We are being affected, Demeter. How's Sephie?'  
'She's fine, but she left something with Hades again. She really likes the fashion of the age, you know - dresses, hats accessories, everything. I think she is thriving as well, actually.'  
'Hades! Have you seen my pink rose-based lipstick!?'  
'Are you back again?'  
'Yes, because I need that lipstick! I left it here a few days ago!' Hades sighed and stood up. He walked out of his study, only to find his wife tearing open a all the drawers in the bedroom.   
'I know I left it here somewhere!'  
'In the bathroom, maybe?'  
'I looked there, it isn't.' She opened another drawer and rummaged through it, before standing up. She put her hands to her hips. 'Honestly, we need a better system to clean up in here!'  
'Well, you do have a lot of clothes. Maybe you should donate some of that to Aphrodite.'  
'No! She has everything I have and more!' Hades rolled his eyes and walked over to here. He put his hand on her arm. 'Of course, but it's still a lot.' Persephone shook her head and opened a drawer of her vanity table.   
'Oh, it's here,' she said. She shrugged. 'Well, guess I have to go back to earth. Spring is not going to bring itself back. Oh wait, it is.' Hades spinned her around and kissed her on the mouth.   
'Go bring spring back to the world.' She smiled and nodded.  
'Of course.'  
The flower goddess broke back through the earth. 'I got it, mother! Let's go further... Oh, welcome, Artemis.'   
'Hey. Well, nice catching up.' She coughed. 'Bye, demeter, Persephone.' She flicked her hair over her shoulder and left.   
Persephone held her mother's' arm.  
'Phiona, what do you want?'  
'Can I pretty please go to the club with the ladies tonight?'  
'You're an adult, right? I can not tell you what to do.' Persephone blinked.  
'...Uh... I guess. Alright, bye!' Persephone skipped away, leaving a trail of flowers behind her. Demeter chuckled. She put a hand on a tree next to her. Her smile faded. 'Come, come, it will be fine, my dryads,' she whispered. She knew that she could not be so sure about that.  
'So, how's' life?' Persephone asked Psyche. The goddess took a sip from her drink.   
'Well, I feel great. The human spirits are lifted - It takes weight of my shoulders.' Persephone giggled. 'Amazing. Well, all's fine for me, but I believe my mother is in pain and Hades is focused on business out of nowhere.'   
'Oh, Hebe had a similar problem, I believe. The idea of strength... it has changed, and so did Hercules. And, well, I haven't seen Ariadne in quite a while, but considering all the bootlegging that's been going on...' Psyche shook her head. 'Love stays the same, though, so none of that for me.' She smiled again. Persephone whipped her pink lipstick out of her purse.  
'I love the new fashion, as do most people, I believe...'  
'Hm.' Psyche took another sip of her drink. She looked around the room. Everywhere, people where dancing, sipping on their drinks and having the time of their lives. She sighed deeply. Yes, she felt light right now, but she also felt that that would not last forever. Soon, the spirits would go down again.


	124. Justin Bieber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when two Apollo kids get into a battle - a battle about wheter Justin Bieber is good or bad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Sorry I uploaded later than Usual. I still have to get used to uploading on three platforms intead of two. To make up for it, there are two one-shots in here - one of them being about Justin Bieber, the other one about Origami to the death in Hotel Valhalla.

During Percy's Second Year In Camp  
Lee was scrolling through his iPod. He sighed before typing in the password of his dads' music library. As an Apollo kid, he had a special type of iPod, one that had access to all of Apollo's songs (Which were a lot of songs, ranging from Ancient Greek songs to songs that weren't out yet). He rolled his eyes when he saw yet another song from Justin Bieber in one of the list. He wondered why in the world his father liked those songs so much.   
'Why the long face?' his brother Michael came walking into the cabin. Lee sighed again.   
'Have you been in dads' music library lately? It is filled with those trashy Justin Bieber songs. I thought he had better taste.' Michaels' eyes went big.   
'How dare you call Justin Bieber trashy!?'  
'He is. I mean, his most popular song is literally saying the same word over and over again and screaming in between.' Michaels' eyes went even bigger.   
'This is probably a sin.' Lee gave him a confused look.   
'...It's a sin? What? Because I do not like something in dads' library? You know basically every song ever made is in there, right?' Michael rolled his eyes.  
'No! It is because his songs literally come from heaven!'  
'Alright.' Lee got up. 'I am going to the lake.'  
'No. We need to get this straight.'   
'Do you want a camp-wide battle about wether Justin Bieber is a good singer or not?'  
'I was thinking of an archery contest, but that's a better idea!' Michael pushed Lee away and ran outisde. From still inside, Lee could hear him yell at other campers if they liked Justin Bieber or not. Lee clenched his fists. If his brother wanted to do this, the game was on.  
Yet, not a lot happened for the rest of the afternoon, except that the two sons of Apollo were running through camp, asking everyone and everything whether they liked Justin Bieber and neglecting their other duties (Some poor Hermes kid had to clean the canoes that day, which they had also done the day before).   
But then dinnertime came. Before the camp leaders could start with the announcements, Michael jumped up from the bench and pulled his iPod out. Within a second, Lee understood what Michael wanted to do. He jumped up from the bench as well. 'Hey! That's not allowed!' he yelled. Too late. Michael put on 'Boyfriend' and turned the volume high.   
The music was so loud that the birds that were still in the trees of camp Half-blood flew away. A few kids from the other tables started singing along. Others started boo-ing, screaming and joined Lee in his protest. Most kids looked confused and scared.  
'Stop the music!' Dionysus demanded. Michael looked him dead in the eye, while turning the volume up. 'I have a battle to win and I won't...' The iPod was pulled out of his hands. Michael turned around angrily, ready to fight whoever did that.   
'I'd rather have some nice peace and quiet during evening dinner whenever we can, Michael,' Chiron said, while looking at the iPod. 'Boyfriend' was still blasting through the speakers. 'How do I...' Dionysus picked it out of his hands and put the music out. Michael rolled his eyes. A few kids sighed. 'awh, why?'  
'I liked it...'  
'Heh, it's gone.'  
Michael looked around. 'Can I have my iPod back?' Dionysus shook his head.  
'Maybe tomorrow.' Chiron sighed.  
'After dinner. Now sit back down, all of you, please.' Michael rolled his eyes again.   
'Yes, Chiron.' He sat back down on the bench. Lee gave him a dirty look.   
'Told you.'  
'I'll get back at you.'  
'Hey, I didn't do anything.'

 

After the evening meal, Michael got his iPod back and the kids were shooed to the camp fire. Unfortunately, the Apollo campers had promised to give a sing-a-long concert. Lee and Michael, as the two oldest campers in the cabin, where positioned right next to each other - and had to pick out the songs.   
They tried to be civil. They really did. They started off with simple camp half-blood songs, the ones everyone knew about. Yet, after three songs, they both tried to start with a different song. That happened all the time. Usually, a little silence would fall and they continued with a different song. Right now, they shot each other ice cold glares. 'We should have done my song,' Lee said.   
'Are you sure? I liked mine better,' Michael answered.  
'Alright, I am leaving, they are your responsibility now,' Dionysus whispered to Chiron. He was gone before Chiron could say anything back. Chiron sighed. 'Michael, Lee, please choose a song,' he yelled over the heads of the campers. Without waiting for Lee, Michael started playing Baby on his guitar.  
Some of the Apollo campers started playing along. Others just sat there, with their instruments workless in their hands. Meanwhile, about one third of the kids around the campfire started singing along as well. Chiron stood up.  
'Michael, knock it off!' he yelled. Michael played softer - but he still played on.   
'This is dads' music, Chiron!' He yelled back. The music stopped when Lee pulled the guitar out of his brothers hands - only to hold it above the camp fire. Michael screamed. 'Alright, alright, I'll stop! But this is madness!' He pointed at Lee.  
'Promise you'll never use this to play Justin Bieber again and I won't do it!' Lee threatend. Michael bit his lip, until he realised what his brother was saying. 'I promise I won't play Justin Bieber on this guitar anymore.' Lee looked him deep in the eyes for a few minutes.  
'Alright.' Lee handed his brother the guitar back. Chiron came galloping up to the front.   
'Kids, stop for today.' He clapped in his hands. 'Please, the camp fire is over today! Go to sleep!' He heard a few disappointed sighs, but everyone got up and slowly started to move towards the cabin. Chiron grabbed both Lee and Michael by their shoulders. 'You two come along,' he whispered.

 

'So. Why did this all start?' he asked, while giving both boys a mug with tea.   
Michael and Lee took a sip of tea, while wondering how they were going to explain to Chiron that they had a fight about Justin Bieber without sounding extremely childish. 'We had... an argument, this afternoon.'  
'About music?'  
'About quality,' Lee answered. Michael nodded.  
'About quality.'  
'Is there a specific artist or style you two were arguing about? I mean, the two songs sounded slightly alike...'  
'That's why the quality is exactly zero,' Lee said. He took another sip of tea. Michael turned his head towards him. 'It is great. Dad himself thinks so too.'  
'What, because his library is full of that music?' It is full of everything!'  
'Yes, but this is by his favorites!'  
'No way!'  
'Lee? Micheal?'  
'Yes?' The kids said at once.   
'Does this really effect your daily life?'  
Lee shrugged. 'Maybe.' Michael shrugged too.   
Chiron smiled his typical, tired smile. 'Can you two then try to let it go?'  
Michael sighed. Lee shrugged. 'Maybe,' they murmurred. Chiron patted them both on the back. 'Well, drink up your tea and go back to your cabin. Good night, boys.' Chiron walked up the stairs, while the boys drank their tea. They both thought they heard the centaur rant to Dionysus a little. About half a minute apart, they went to their cabins.  
They were the last to brush their teeth - together (Do you feel the trouble coming up? You should be able to feel the trouble coming up). Michael got his iPod out of his body warmer. Lee rolled his eyes. Michael stuck his tongue out. 'I won't put Justin Bieber on, alright?' he said, while scrolling throught the songs. Lee gave him a suspicious look, that turned into a grimace when a song by Silena Gomez came bursting into his ears.  
He spat out his tooth paste. He threw the tooth brush at Michael. 'I count this as bullying,' he said, while striding out of the bathroom. He did not go to the Apollo cabin. He honestly did not want to be around Michael right now. Instead, he knocked on the door of the Hermes cabin. Connor opened the door. 'Let me in. I don't want any more Justin Bieber.'  
'Fair reason,' Connor Stoll answered, while letting Lee into the Hermes cabin. 

 

The next morning, Percy peacefully awoke in the Poseidon cabin. It seemed quiet outside (Even while he was only thirteen, Percy appreciated days that were nice and quiet in camp half-blood) - until he realised that it was not quiet outside. He heard flards of music and... kids chanting? Percy dangled his legs over the side of his bed. 'Is there some cult thing going on?' he murmurred. Softly, to not wake up Tyson, he skipped out of bed and put on a blue hoodie. He opened his cabin door.  
Outside, most of the kids in camp half-blood were standing in a circle around the source of the music. Percy stepped onto the grass. He noticed Annabeth standing by the side. 'What's going on?' he asked, while he jogged over to her.  
'Lee and Michael. They are fighting about Justin Bieber again.' Percy tilted his head. He left Annabeth with her siblings. He elbowed his way through the crowd, until he stood at the front.  
Michael was holding his iPod high in the air. Every Justin Bieber song ever blasted through the speakers - all at once. Lee and Michael were yelling at each other, over the music. Some kids were cheering them on. Percy just stared at it. He had no idea what to do against it.  
Neither did anybody else, aparently. After some time, the chanting and cheering stopped. A few minutes after the that, the horn for breakfast sounded. Children started to walk towards the dinner pavilion. Eventually, Lee and Michael noticed. They started walking towards the pavilion - while still screaming and with the music blaring through the speakers.   
As soon as Chiron heard the sound, he sighed deeply, very, very deeply, before slowly standing up. Yet, Dionysus was quicker than that. He ran out of the pavilion and towards the two kids. Without question, he ripped the iPod out of Michaels' hand. 'You might get it back in a week,' he said, before walking back to the table. Halfway through, he turned around again. 'And I do not want to hear the name 'Justin Bieber' ever again for the rest of the century.' He sat down at the head table. Chiron pointed at the iPod, but he refused to give it up.  
There was one, nice, sweet, lovely day of silence without any Justin Bieber or monster attacks (Those might be the same thing, that depends on whoms' side you are on). Sweet silence, until the horn announcing bedtime sounded. Most kids went to bed - but not Michael, Lee and their brother Will. They waited on each other in front of the hearth.   
Will looked around, trying to look intimidating. 'Alright. We are going to fight this out in the classic way: With a rap battle. Lee has no restrictions. Michael can only rap in lines from Justin Bieber songs.' They nodded. Will nodded. 'If you do not say anything within three seconds, you lose! Alright, begin!' Will put on a beat on his own iPod, before pointing to Lee.  
Lee did a pretty impressive free style rap. Michael could counter his words all right with just Justin Bieber lyrics the first time. Will raised his eyebrows. 'Wow,' he whispered.   
Lee waited one second, before countering Michaels' words again. While he was rapping, some other kids started to notice what they were doing. A small crowd started to form around them. Softly, to not wake up the camp counselors, they started cheering them on.  
Four more rounds later, the entire camp was softly cheering them on - so it kind of sounded like there was a ghost concert going on. Both kids started to get in trouble. It was late and neither of them had trained their free style skills lately (Five rounds is not a lot for Apollo children).  
After three more rounds, Michael coughed. He blinked. He panicked. 'Three! Lee wins!' Will announced, cheerfully. Half of the camp started cheering. The other half tried to comfort Michael.   
Eventually, they shook hands. The war on music was over... for now.

 

Origami To The Death

Alex stretched his arms. 'This should be interesting.' Mallory shrugged.  
'I have been here before. It is not that fun.'  
'You came back, though.'  
'Yes, because I want at least six more folded cranes for my army. With just a tip of sand out of vanaheim, they can come to life.' Alex raised his eyebrows.  
'What do you plan to do with them?'  
'Wouldn't you like to know?' Mallory grinned an evil grin after she said it. Alex nodded slowly.  
'If you want to be like that.'  
Together they pushed open the heavy doors that led to the arts-and-crafts hall (they had to do it together. For some reason that was probably somewhere in Odin's' brain, you could only open the doors with two or more people). There were already a few people inside. Some of them were listening to a woman explaining how to fold certain things, others were busy with their own projects. One man was completely hunched over his desk, with a mountain of origami paper stacked around him and his project.  
'What's he making?' Alex asked Mallory. The daughter of Frigg shrugged.   
'No idea, but he has been at it for a long time. Some people think he is trying to make something to blow up floor 1089.'  
'Well, he should get to it already, then!'  
'I know.' Mallory picked up way to much origami paper to make six cranes and walked to a nearby table where no-one was siting. Alex also picked up way to much paper (The nature gods would be angry that they wasted so much paper and trees) and sat down next to Mallory. Mallory immediately moved two seats away.  
'Alright, keep your secrets!' Alex muttered, while she started folding her origami paper. Mallory shrugged. 'Don't you need any lessons about what to do?'   
'No, I have a very clear idea about what I want.'  
'It is very different from pottery, you know that, right?'  
'I am not two years old, Mallory. Now hand me that piece of blue paper,' Alex said, while pointing at a piece of light-blue paper that had the exact same colour as about thirty percent of Alex' paper pile.  
They worked in silence for about thirty minutes, Mallory on her army of Paper cranes (Which had grown by thirty-four cranes, which is only slightly more than six) and Alex on her... whatever it was meant to be. She had folded some of the pieces of paper into others, so that they stuck to each other and made a long sling. Maybe she wanted to decorate a room. She probably had darker plans with it.  
'What are you making?'  
'Something that will improve life for everyone on floor nineteen.' Mallory huffed, while blindly folding another crane (Her hands had gotten so used to the movements that she didn't even have to look anymore and also they started to hurt). 'My cranes are just meant for the weekly brawl, if you were wondering.'  
'I really wasn't,' Alex said, while staring at the (Weirdly hostile looking) collection of cranes in front of Mallory. 'But I am wondering how big this army of you is at this point.'  
'Oh, with these added about three-hundred and thirteen cranes big.'  
'So, still one-hundred eighty seven to go?'  
'Still one-hundred and eighty seven to go,' Mallory agreed, while she folded another one out of sparkling pink paper. 'The people of floor eighty seven can better watch out tomorrow.'  
Someone started laughing in the back of the room. It was an evil, sinister laugh, the kind you only hear from Disney villains. Mallory and Alex turned around. In the back of the room sat a man with a huge, origami Yoda. Mallory's mouth fell open.  
'How did he get it so big?' Alex shrugged.  
'Either magic or a whole lot of work.' The man walked to the front of his Yoda. Alex and Mallory leaned closer; they wanted to see what he was going to do with it.   
'I bet you ten bucks the thing will start to talk and spout wisdom,' Mallory whispered to Alex. Alex nodded. 'Deal, and also I hope so, because this place could use some wisdom.'  
The man got something out of his pocket. 'Is that...'   
'Dust from vanaheim? Yes,' Mallory finished the sentence before Alex could. She looked ecstatic. 'None of us are sure if it is legal, but it does wonders for your projects. Also, I think that green ball of paper might actually start to talk!' Alex also got excited. Maybe origami class is interesting after all, she thought.  
The guy sprinkled some dust on his Yoda. It did a little shake, before doing one step forward. 'Please, please, please,' Alex heard the man plead. The Yoda stood still for some time - before it pulled a lightsaber out of nowhere and walked to a woman sitting near. It had such great speed that it had light sabered her down before she even noticed.   
Mallory and Alex moved back a little. One person yelped and jumped back, which notified the Yoda that there was someone there and that he should go after it. He lightsabered the poor person down as well, before the leader of the origami club jumped up and threw something on the Yoda.   
It was probably a powder that worked against the powers of vanaheim dust, because the Yoda stopped moving. The guy sighed. 'Awh.'  
'Yoda doesn't even have a lightsaber!' The leader complained. 'Now get out of here and don't let me see you back in at least three weeks!' The guy shrugged and walked out, carrying his Yoda along with him.   
'The Weekly brawl is going to be interesting,' Alex remarked. Mallory shrugged.  
'Some girl build a t-rex once. Now that was wild! Bad thing that someone tore it apart before she could use it during the brawl.' Everyone started to get back to work again (Except for the really secretive guy. He hadn't noticed the entire Yoda-debacle).  
Mallory's army got close to reaching four-hundred and fifty cranes. Alex sling was still getting longer. At some point, two people had gotten into an argument, which had escalated into one of them strangeling the other with a origami snake. So, ya know, a regular day in Hotel Valhalla.   
Alex let the long sling of origami paper go through his fingers. He smirked. 'My work here is almost done!  
'So your entire work for today is a sling made of origami paper?'  
'It is more than just a sling, Mallory.'  
'Then what is it?'   
'Wouldn't you like to know?' He snapped, while picking up a green piece of paper to attach it to his sling. Mallory rolled her eyes and folded another crane (From blue paper with glitter). 'I guess I'll see it tomorrow, then.'  
At six 'O clock, they got up to go back to their floor. Alex had her mysterious sling and Mallory had her brand new cranes for her air force. While they walked to the big doors, Mallory looked at the guy who still had a million pieces of paper around his Super Secret Project. With one push, she threw all of the paper on the ground. The man screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to cover his project, but Mallory already saw what it was: A very ingenious looking valentines card for his girlfriend. She smirked.  
The guy stared at her with hellfire in his eyes. 'I'll...'  
'I won't tell anyone,' Mallory whispered, while piling some of his paper back on the table. She scurried after Alex, who was already standing by the door. Together, they pushed it open again.  
The day after, everyone from floor nineteen was standing in the arena. Mallory was carrying a basket with her army of five-hundred origami cranes. Alex had his sling around his neck. Magnus, T.J. and Halfborn were just standing there, wondering why the other two had origami stuff with them.  
They noticed soon enough, when Mallory let her birds fly free, to attack other people in the arena like this was a special origami version of the Hunger games. During the game, Halfborn got taken out by an army of origami frogs (They were with only four hundred. Scrub). Someone flew around with a folded space craft.   
Mallory won that day. Her cranes were able to tear open the spaceship, which made the guy inside drop to the arena floor. They didn't see anything of Yoda with a lightsaber. Mallory just assumed that he was banned that day and would be back to take revenge the next time.   
With about three hundred of her cranes still intact, she walked back to the right floor, with the medal around her neck and her box of paper cranes in her box. When she reached floor nineteen, Alex just walked out of her room. 'Mallory! I see that you defended our honor this time?' Mallory nodded.  
'Yeah.'  
'Why so annoyed?'  
'Now I need to fold one-hundred and ninety three more cranes to make up for the lost ones.' Alex laughed. 'Well, then we go back to Origami class. I want to know what kind of dumb stuff people have thought off. Also, my sling needs to be longer for my well-plotted revenge.'  
'I thought it was meant to benefit our entire floor?'  
'Yes, by getting a well plotted revenge.' Alex strided off to Magnus' room. Mallory shrugged and walked back to her room. With her box, she walked to her part of the world tree. 'Come on,' she whispered. All of the birds (Which still had some vanaheim dust on them) hopped into the tree - in which Mallory had made each and every one of them a nest, made from Origami paper. She threw the box on the floor and walked back to the bedroom part of her room.  
She collapsed on her bed, with all of her clothes still on and the medal around her neck. A few seconds later, she was asleep, while her birds slowly stopped moving and became insentient again, waiting for their new pinch of vanaheim dust.


	125. Talking Helps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two transgender demigods talk to each other for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! I do not have a lot of experience on the subject of transgender, but I wanted to try and write this anyway. If any of you think I wrote something wrong, please tell me how to do it better!

Harper was looking out over the sea. He took a deep breath. Today was a good day. He felt masculine and fit. He had put off his binder a few minutes ago, before coming to the beach. That made him feel a bit sad, but not a whole much.   
He felt a tap on his shoulder. 'Heya, Harper.'  
'Huh? Oh, hello, Eileen.' Eileen took a deep breath.   
'Nice sea air today.' Harper raised his eyebrows.  
'That... alright.' Eileen sighed.  
'Hello, have you ever smelled the air of the sea? It is great.' Harper sniffed.  
'Yeah, it is kind of nice.' Eileen fell into the sand, right next to him.   
'For an Aphrodite kid, you do not have a lot of spiritual connection.'  
'What does being an Aphrodite kid have to do with having a lot of spiritual connection?'  
'Don't know, but it fits better than a daughter of Ares and spiritual connection.'  
'I guess you are right.' Eileen laid down.  
'Hm. Don't tell other people, but I really like relaxing on the beach.' Harper grinned.  
'That is not very Ares-kid like.'  
'You got me. How are you feeling?'  
'Like a man.'  
'Great.' Her smile got weaker. 'Me too, sadly enough.' Harper looked at her.   
'Is that why you came here? To get a bit of peace?'  
'I guess. That does sound kind of weird, right? But it gets my mind of off things - even though I do nothing.'  
'It's peaceful. Maybe your brain needs to get used to that.'  
'Don't know.' She got a lipstick out of her pocket and put some of it on.  
'You can put lipstick on without a mirror?'  
'Yes.'  
'Witchcraft.' Eileen snickered.  
'Don't you get to witness Drew putting on her make-up every morning?' Harper shrugged  
'Touché.' It stayed quiet for a little while. The sea was calm that day - Poseidon must have been in a good mood. A sea shell washed up on the shore. Harper raised one of his eyebrows. 'That doesn't happen often here,' he muttered. He stood up and picked up the shell. 'Look, it's gorgeous.'  
Eileen snickered. 'It looks like any other seashell.' She fell silent for a few seconds. 'Harper?'  
'Hm?'  
'Do you sometimes feel... like they do not understand it?' Harper turned around.  
'I am a yearrounder because my dad kicked me out.'  
'Yes, but I mean... the other campers. Chiron. Even though they are supportive, they...' She shrugged. Harper looked at the seashell.   
'Sometimes... well, sometimes, they are kind of... ignorant. I mean, of course, most campers and of course Chiron try to understand, but still...' Harper opened his mouth a few more times. 'I think you understand what I mean. I mean...' Eileen held up her hand.   
'I know, I was the one who asked, I do not need all those words.' She stared at her feet. Harper twirled the shell around in his hands. 'Eileen, it is really gorgeous. Look.' He showed the daughter of Ares the shell. Eileen stared at it and shrugged.   
'I guess it looks nice.'   
'It has the colour of your eyes.' Eileen rolled her eyes.  
'Take it easy, son of Aphrodite.' Harper grinned. He sat down again and sighed. Eileen tugged on her shirt. 'I wish the transition would go quicker.'  
'You say that pretty bluntly.'  
'Don't you feel the same?'  
'I do, partly. Yet, my mother gifted me a lot of clothes that I think are enchanted - they make me feel really masculine. So that helps.' Eileen sighed.  
'The Ares cabin would be good for you. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good fight, but it does not help with feeling very feminine.' Eileen fiddled with her lipstick.   
'Are... are there any other people you talk to about this?' Harper asked. Eileen shrugged.  
'Yeah, my mother, Chiron sometimes, Dionysus...' She looked at Harper. 'Do you?' Harper shrugged.  
'Not a lot. I cannot talk to my dad, obviously, and, well...' He shrugged again. 'I don't know if Chiron will fully understand and talking to Dionysus of all people just...' Eileen snickered.   
'I get it, Harp. To be honest, I don't think I would have started talking to him if it wasn't for the fact that one day I just looked up who the gods of gender were. There were more names than just his, but it seemed easier.' She shrugged. Harper snickered.  
'An Ares kid reading?'  
'Now you are reaching dangerous territory.'   
'Bring it on.'   
Eileen jumped up. 'Alright.'  
'I was kidding.' Eileen shrugged and sat back down.  
'If you say so.' They stayed silent for a while. Harper slid the shell into his pocket.  
'Eileen?'  
'Hm?'  
'I just thought of something. Do you know that one myth were Poseidon turns some girl into a dude and then gives him a bunch of armour?' Eileen shrugged  
'Chiron might have mentioned it once, but Chiron mentions a lot of things.'  
'Well, I was thinking, what if this is some sort of sign from Poseidon? Like, the shell?'  
'You think he cares?'  
'Apparently Dionysus cares enough to listen to you.'  
'Yes, but he works here.' Harper shrugged. 'I wondered who copied that shrugging habit from who,' Eileen remarked. Harper turned to her and shrugged again. Eileen sighed. 'If you want to be like that.'  
'Yes, but shells never wash up on this shore. It must be a sign.'  
'If it makes you happy.'  
'It does.'  
'Good for you then.' They heard a horn go off in the distance. 'Curfew.'  
They got up and walked towards the camp without saying anything. In the distance, they heard the buzzing of their fellow campers. Eileen held up her shoulders.  
'Are you nervous?'  
'Have you ever had the displeasure of talking to Julian? From the Hermes cabin?' Harper rolled his eyes. 'Yes.'   
'He is coming right this way.' Harper stared at the floor. He felt Eileen clench her muscles. They slowly walked further.   
'You two, quit doing this.'  
'We're walking, Julian,' Eileen said. She sounded angry, but kind of sad as well. Harper looked away. Julian rolled his eyes. 'I feel uncomfortable with you two around.'  
'Welp, same here.'   
'It is very weird of you two. Our Ancient forefathers didn't think of this nonsense.'  
'Read a book, Julian.'   
'We are straightly related to them, that's what I mean.' Eileen didn't react. Harper looked up a little. He saw that Eileen was looking past Julian, to someone else  
At that moment, Dionysus grabbed Julian by the shoulder. 'To the big house, immediately.' Julian freezed. 'What, why? No!'   
'Go.' Julian opened his mouth. 'No comments. Get out of my face.' Julian closed his mouth. He quickly ran away to what was absolutely not the direction of the Big House. 'I can find you either way, this just makes it more difficult!' Dionysus yelled after him.   
He looked towards Harper and Eileen. 'Are you two alright?'  
'I was,' Eileen answered. Harper just nodded.   
Does he bother you two more often?' He asked Eileen nodded.  
'Sometimes, but he started to do it less after I punched him in the face during training a few days ago and the rest of my cabin just pointed and laughed.'   
'Good for you.'  
'Yes. Now go to your cabin and if anybody acts like that, tell them I'll get them.   
'Will do.' Eileen pulled Harper along, who was still staring into the distance.   
'You shouldn't freeze if they try to act like that, Harp.' Harper shrugged.  
'I Always get so uncomfortable around him. Luckily, he doesn't touch me a lot either, because he know then Piper and Michael will get him. Well, and you, I guess.' Eileen put her arm around his shoulder.  
'They stand behind you, Harper. So do I.' Harper slid his arm around Eileen's shoulder.   
'Same with me, Eileen.'


	126. Artemis' Huntresses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone requested more hunters of Artemis shenanigans. So, here you go!

'For the last time, Apollo, stop calling my hunters the 'Immortal Fighter chick gang!'   
'You keep calling my musicians the Yodeling Musical Darlings. It is only fair.' Artemis rolled her eyes. 'Tss. Well, have fun driving your sun chariot around. See ya some other time!' Apollo quickly hugged her, before she could walk away. 'Call back quickly!' Artemis sighed and smiled. 'Yeah, yeah, will do. Bye bye, brother.'  
'See you later!'  
Artemis walked out of Apollo's palace. She loved her twin brother, she really did, but he was too clingy sometimes. She collected some stuff from her own palace, before magically transporting herself into the woods. The smell of pinewood in the morning was delicious (her palace on Olympus smelled like pinewood in the morning as well). She summoned her bow and started walking towards the camp where her hunters were resting.   
She never had to seek her huntresses. When they were not on a mission, they were not exactly the best at the fine art (So fine a muse for it did not exist) of being quiet. You could literally hear them from a mile away. Right now, she did not only hear the usual talking and screaming of her hunters and Crackling of the bonfire, but also the beat of loud music. She groaned. 'I blame you, brother,' she whispered (Up on Olympus, Apollo wondered why he felt such a cold chill go up his spine).   
Artemis marched into camp. 'Girls! What is going on? Have the maenads invaded?' Nobody heard her.   
'GIRLS! Why the music!?' She yelled, louder. A girl called Carmelita heard her.   
'Lady Artemis! What did you say?' She yelled over the music.  
'WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?'  
'We are listening to music!' Carmelita answered, with a 'well, duh' tone in her voice.   
'TURN IT OFF!' Carmelita opened her mouth again, but Artemis walked past her. She saw that Thalia was the one holding the radio. 'Thalia, out!' Thalia turned the volume down.  
'What? Why?'   
'Because you are scaring the animals away!' She felt a hand on her hip.  
'Awh, we were just having fun! Want a marshmallow?' Spiriotes, who had laid her hand on Artemis' hip, asked. Artemis took a marshmallow out of the bag Spiriotes held in front of her. 'Girls, you need to make sure there are no monsters ready to attack!'  
'You say that everytime you come back from Olympus, a few minutes before you join us in the shenanigans.'  
'Iphenginia, no mouthing off! Now, does anybody have any food?' She heard sighs around the campfire. 'There is still some meat,' someone muttered.  
'Why don't we order Chinese?'  
'Girls!'  
'Alright, I'll just bake some meat.'  
'No fun.'  
'I am going to check my bow.' Slowly, the group started to move around the camp. Artemis bit her lip. Maybe she had been a little harsh on her hunters. She made eye-contact with Thalia. Her head lieutenant bit her lip, while clearly trying not to laugh. The goddess threw her hair over her shoulder. Nevermind. She couldn't do anything without having her girls walking over her anyway. 

 

'... and that's why I think the placebo effect is very strong!' Kelly said, finally ending her way too long 3 A.M. story. Most girls had fallen asleep around the campfire. Artemis had walked away with Thalia, Spiriotes and Carmelita. Slowly, most girls started to fall asleep.

 

'Thalia, be quiet!'   
'Yes, yes!' The girls were focused on a monster that was standing about one-hundred metres away. All of them had their bows with them. Spiriotes put an Arrow on her bow.   
'Do we know what kind of monster that is?' Carmelita asked. Artemis nodded.  
'Yes. Well, I know what it does, but I might have repressed it's name, doesn't matter, it breathes fire and has some very magical things around its neck that could come in handy with future missions.' Spiriotes nodded and fired her arrow. They heard a cry and a growl. Artemis said a word that I cannot repeat while keeping the family friendly rating, and fired three more times.  
'Sippy!'  
'Sorry! I thought I could get it!'   
'I know, I know, run!' She yelled. The girls disappeared into the forest, Thalia and Carmelita to one side, Artemis and Sippy to the other, trying to circle the monster. It was growling and screaming loudly. Sippy got another Arrow out of her quiver.  
Before any of her girls could do anything, Artemis laid an Arrow on her bow and shot. The monster disappeared in a cloud of monster dust. Quickly, the goddess ran over to it. She picked something up from the floor.   
Carmelita, Sippy and Thalia stared at her. 'Why did we need to run, then?'  
'Because it might have spat a gust of fire to the place were we all stood. Now let's go back to the camp and see if there are any marshmallows left, shall we?'  
They started walking to the camp. Carmelita yawned. 'The person who invented marshmallows was a genius.'  
'He was a son of Demeter, I believe,' Artemis muttered. 'Not the brightest one, to be honest, but I forgive a lot for marshmallows.' Thalia grinned.  
'Like?'  
'Don't even think about it, Thalia.'  
'Of course not.' But she did, just like Carmelita and Sippy.  
The next day, Artemis woke up around seven 'O clock (She never got a lot of sleep. She was a goddess, she did not need it) and immediately noticed that something was going on. It was just too quiet for it to be a usual day (The huntresses were like the campers that way). She got up and looked around. The campfire was still burning a little. She saw most of her girls laying around it, still sound asleep. Yet, some of them were missing - she could feel it.  
With the snap of her fingers she changed out of her pajamas and into her regular clothes. She looked around the group and quickly counted all of her recruits. Usually, she had eighty. Now she saw only seventy-seven hunters.  
She rolled her eyes and turned around, facing the forest. She closed her eyes and listened. She heard footsteps on her right, somewhere deeper in the forest. She opened her eyes. Dawn was breaking. Quickly, she darted into the forest.   
She felt that they were planning something. She kinda expected her hunters to jump out of a tree and land on her shoulders (they had done that before. Apollo had seen it from his sun chariot and had laughed so loudly he almost dropped out of it). She looked around.  
'Girls..?'   
'I think I hear her...' She heard footsteps scurrying away.  
'GIRLS!' There was no answer. Artemis growled and walked quicker.

 

'Sippy! Be quiet!'  
'I am!' Carmelita held her finger to her lips.   
It was quiet for the whole of six seconds. Their feet softly hit the forest soil. 'Are we sure we want fried food for breakfast?' Sippy asked. Thalia and Carmelita looked at her.  
'Yes,' They said at the exact same time. Sippy swallowed.   
'Alright, then.' They ran through the forest, to the nearest Macdonalds (At three kilometres away - not a lot for the hunters). They knew that Artemis was following them (the goddess did not catch up to them - she wanted to know what they were doing), but they went through with it anyway.  
They reached the Macdonalds and ran inside. 'Yes, one burger with fries for me please!' Thalia yelled at the cashier. She raised an eyebrow. 'It's... half past seven.'  
'So?' the cashier shrugged.   
'What do the others want?'  
'I want a salad with chicken, please,' Carmelita said (loudly). Sippy softly ordered a normal breakfast with eggs and bacon. After they were done, the cashier looked past them. 'What does the girl with red hair want?'   
Horrified, the girls turned around. They saw Artemis standing in the macdonalds. She gave her girls a dark look that did not promise anything good. She turned towards the bored fast food employee.  
'I want eggs, bacon and a cookie.' She shuffled towards a booth by the window.   
Carmelita stayed behind to collect the food. Thalia and Spiriotes walked towards Artemis. The goddess looked at them without emotion. 'It is more my brothers' style to get fast food at seven thirty A.M.' Thalia gave the goddess her best puppy-dog eyes.   
'We thought it would be good for bonding in the group!'   
'You're here with just the three of you,' Artemis fired back, while Carmelita walked to the table with their breakfast. Thalia had opened her mouth to say something back to Artemis, but when she saw the goddesses' face upon seeing her breakfast, she decided that Artemis might like it a lot more than she let on.  
With their stomachs full, they walked back to their small camp. The other girls had started to wake up. Artemis already smelled the marshmallows. She sighed. 'Maybe I'll ban marshmallows one day,' she whispered to herself, like she wasn't addicted to them as well (She decided not to look at Carmelita's horrified face after she said that).


	127. International Book Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Sorry that I forgot to upload yesterday. The summer schedule really makes you forget what day it is :).

'Who even came up with something like 'international book day?'' Percy asked to no-one in particular. Annabeth grinned. 'People who enjoy reading. And why wouldn't they? Books contain a lot of information, after all.' Percy rolled his eyes.  
'There are other ways to get information these days.'  
'Hey! Shh!' Connor said. The son of Hermes was walking in front of them, with his brother. 'We need to be quiet, otherwise they'll notice us.'  
'I think Chiron might have told the gods what is going on, Connor,' Percy answered. Travis rolled his eyes.   
'Yes, but we need to show our dad that we are not chumps, you get it?' Annabeth and Percy sighed at the same time. 'Alright, if we get right to business after that,' Annabeth answered.  
It was going to be international book day soon. Chiron, ever the teacher, had decided that they needed to celebrate it. With some help from Athena, he had gotten the Olympians so far that they would all donate a book to the campers (Or, better said, that they would all donate a book to the Athena cabin library - only a few campers liked to read). Yet, in exchange, the campers had to give every single God a book as well. Right now, Percy, Annabeth and the Stoll brothers were on their way to Olympus to ask every god what their favorite genre was, so they could pick out a book.   
On the subtle request of the Stoll brothers (They had been whining about it for the whole car ride. Usually, they whined about it for the entire trip, not just the car ride) they would go to Hermes' palace first. While they slowly walked over the main square, Percy heard a few people whisper about them. The whispers ranged from 'What are those demigods doing here?' to 'Is that the real Percy Jackson?'  
Percy looked around. The people who had muttered the last phrase were a couple of servants. Percy tapped on Annabeths' shoulder and pointed at the servants. They waved and the boy and girl looked like their day was made. Quickly, the servants ran away from the square, towards Nemesis' mansion.  
The Stolls pranced up the stairs like they owned the place, towards the palaces of the Olympians, with Annabeth and Percy behind them (They walked like normal people). Hermes' palace was the last palace on the male side of the twelve palaces (Dionysus inherited Hestia's palace and therefore lived on the other side, with the female Olympians. Hestia moved to a house close to the central hearth, which she loved). 'This is a long walk,' Percy complained.  
'We'll do the palace next to Hermes' palace next,' Connor promised. Annabeth snickered.  
The palaces were big and had large gardens around them. It took about fifteen minutes to reach Hermes palace. When they were finally standing in front of his porch, Percy and Annabeth wanted to walk right through - but the Stolls stopped them. 'Stay back and wait until that light on the balcony is green, like in the Great Gatsby,' Travis said. They disappeared into the front garden. 'They do know that there is something going on with that Green Light, right?' Annabeth asked Percy, 'Something not very nice?'  
Twenty minutes later, Travis (Completely covered in mashed potatoes for some reason) turned on the green light. Annabeth and Percy stepped into the garden, which had a bunch of statues of not just Hermes but also George and Martha for some reason. 'George and Martha promised me quick mail delivery for the rest of my life if I designed those,' Annabeth told Percy. Percy laughed.  
Hermes gave them all a free piece of cake while he told a long and kinda boring story about how Connor and Travis could have done their stealth mission better. In the middle of the story, he sort of mentioned that he liked comedy books and mysteries and after that the four children decided to slowly pad out of the room.  
'Did he finish his story before we left?' Percy asked, while they were walking to Hephaestus' palace. Annabeth shrugged. 'I don't think so.' Travis and Connor shook their heads.  
'No, but he talks the whole day if he is free for once. So unless you two wanted to be there for the entire day, we did the right thing.' Travis rang the doorbell by Hephaestus' palace and immediately stepped inside. 'Chiron and Mr. D told us to just go inside after we rang the bell. If he isn't at home, they'll take care of it.' Percy sighed.  
'He probably isn't at home and if he is he is probably too busy tinkering with something,' Percy said. Annabeth slowly nodded. Travis and Connor shrugged. 'Hm.'  
Hephaestus wasn't at home, but he did leave biscuits on a small tray in the living room (Which was basically just a small workshop). With a biscuit (and Connor with a small computer that was just too shiny to resist) they left the house again. Hephaestus had a garden with a few cacti. 'He did not want plants that needed constant taking care off,' Annabeth whispered in Percy's ear.  
'Do we really have to do this?' Percy asked, while Annabeth's' hands hovered in front of Ares doorbell.   
'No,' Travis answered, while he picked up a small note hanging next to the doorbell. 'Give me books with war,' it read ('and a lot of romantic situations' was written underneath by what seemed to be Hermes' handwriting). 'Let's just leave.'  
It basically went like that for the entire day. Athena pulled them inside and kept them in her palace for forty minutes, while explaining the plot and themes of the book she wanted and feeding them carrots and tea. Zeus told them to go away, which made Hera think that she had the right to two books because she was married to him. The children didn't even care and just wrote down that they would buy two books by Santa Montefiore for her.  
They finished talking to the Olympian gods - now a whole bunch of houses of minor gods to go. They first went to the palaces on the left. The palace that was standing front and center was Eros' palace. It looked Majestic and made Nemesis, Hebe and Tyches' palaces look pale by comparison. Percy tapped Annabeth on her shoulder. She shrugged. 'Everyone is kind of afraid of Eros, you know,' She whispered. She grabbed Percy's hand. He squished it.  
Eros apparently did not like front gardens, because he didn't have one. Connor rang the doorbell, loud and long. One of the doors opened. Psyche peeked around the corner. Connor and Travis gasped. 'Hello? Oh, you four are here for National Book Day.' She threw the door further open. 'Come in!'  
Annabeth peeked at her. She felt a little blush go to her cheeks. Psyche was really gorgeous. She tried to feed them chocolate chip cookies, but all four children declined - they were full with all the stuff the other gods tried to feed them. She smiled and handed them a list. 'Here. The recemondations are mostly for me.'  
Percy stared at the list. It was a whole bunch of cheesy, trashy romance novels. The boys all walked away, but Annabeth leaned closer to the goddess. 'Are these really for you?' she whispered. Psyche gave her a small smile.   
'No, actually. But the mighty god of love reading trashy romance novels is not really good for the pr.' Annabeth tried not to laugh.  
'Yeah. Of course.' They heard something fall to the floor in the hallway. Psyche swallowed. She quickly walked out of the room. Annabeth followed behind her. The daughter of Athena bit her lip in an effort not to laugh when she saw what had happened. Connor was laying on the floor - it seemed like he tripped over a slightly opened door (or just his own feet). Around him laid an ocean of the most trashy, cheesiest romance novels ever known to man (and god) kind. Annabeth looked at Psyche. The goddess held a hand in front of her mouth.  
She helped Connor up to his feet. The son of Hermes shook his head. 'I... I don't believe these are yours,' he muttered. Psyche smiled and shook her head. 'Do you have the information you wanted?' They all nodded and swiftly made their way out of the house.  
Outside, Connor put his hand under his jacket. He got out a novel that he must have swiped out of the pile. 'This is almost read to shreds. I never knew the god of love, you know, said to be able to dominate the entirety of Olympus and everything beyond, likes cheesy bouquet books.' Percy laughed.  
'Well, it is not too surprising. So, the next one on the list is Hebe, right?'  
'Yes, but I believe she wanted young adult, so we could also just skip further to Nemesis' house,' Travis slowly mumbled. Annabeth rolled her eyes and pushed him towards Hebe's house. 'We are not risking the wrath of any gods today. Come.'  
Hours passed. Eventually, it was nine 'O clock. Percy yawned. 'I think there are more book titles on the list we made than books a mortal can read in their life.' Annabeth nodded.   
'I agree on that.' She yawned as well (it's contagious, you know). 'How many gods have we done? Do we have to do a lot more of them?' She heard Travis snicker. It sounded kind of evil.   
'I thought you were always the list keeper. Yet, we have to do about... too many more really minor gods. Like, gods in charge of specific buildings and moments, that kind of thing.'  
Annabeth blinked. 'Are you sure?'  
'Yes.' Annabeth sat down on the floor. The other three did the same thing.  
'Why didn't we just let them all write a postcard with what they wanted?' Percy groaned. 'Or an email? Or anything that is not personally going by every single house on Olympus?' Annabeth shrugged,  
'It seemed like a good idea. Yet, let's go home and... continue tomorrow, or the day after that, or something.' Travis shook his head. 'I don't think we'll ever pick this up again.'  
'We'll ask Piper, Jason and whoever else wants to finish this. Must be someone inside our camp who is willing,' Annabeth answered. Connor gave her a weak smile. 'Deal.'  
They slowly tried to get back to the elevator. Olympus had a lot of streets and getting lost was an easy thing to do. After twenty minutes of walking around, Percy sighed deeply and sunk to the ground. 'We can also just sleep right here and try again tomorrow.' Travis blinked.  
'No, the streets will probably be cleaned with fire or something.'  
'That's ridiculous.'  
'I still don't want to risk it.' Percy rolled his eyes.  
'Do we have any idea where we need to go?' Everyone shook their heads.  
They heard footsteps down the street. 'Are you all still here?' They looked around and saw that Psyche was standing by a nearby water well. 'Uh, yeah,' Annabeth answered. 'We're slightly lost.' The goddess motioned with her hands.  
'Come, I'll bring you to the elevator.'  
'Thank you so much,' Percy said while they walked towards her.  
Completely out of energy and with a list that was way too long, the four demigods dropped down in Percy's cabin. 'Why did we agree to this?'  
'I don't even like reading.'  
'How are we going to get Jason and Piper to do this for us?'  
'I don't know, promise them cake?'  
'Annabeth, what do you think?'  
But Annabeth didn't answer. She had curled up on the bed below Percy's and was now asleep. Not even three minutes later, the other three were also sound asleep, with a mountain of work still to do the next morning and a long list laying next to them.


	128. Kittens

Piper stepped out of her car. She opened the door to the passenger seat, where an open carton box was standing. Piper unbuckeled the seat belt and picked up the box. Some soft meowing came out of the box. 'Sorry, Sweeties,' she whispered, 'But this is the fastest way to get you into the safety of camp.' She looked inside the box. There were five ten-week-old kittens inside.  
With the box in her arms, she slowly started to walk towards the Zeus cabin, where she had agreed to meet up with Jason. She tried not to look around while she walked through camp - that would only make people suspicious. Most campers knew what they were doing, but they needed to make sure Chiron, Dionysus and Argus didn't notice - because pets were illegal and they would be thrown out.  
She got a few knowing glances from a few campers, but there were no camp counselors to notice her walking around with a box they knew nothing of. She softly put the box on the floor (Which made the little kittens mew again) and knocked on Jasons' door. He opened the door for a little bit.  
'Oh, hey Piper.' He pushed the door slightly further open.  
'Come in.' Piper picked up the box and stepped inside. 'Quickly!' Jason added as she stepped through the door.  
'Sorry. I saw Chiron stepping out of the Big House.' Piper slowly nodded and put the box on the floor. Jason looked inside and smiled. 'They are so cute.'  
'I know, right? Do you have the stuff?' Jason nodded. He sighed and together they just stared at the cats for a few minutes.  
'Yes. I have some simple food for them, blankets, toys. We can distribute them over the cabins, so that they can eat and play everywhere.' Piper sighed happily.  
'Yet, Piper, how do you want to keep them away from Chiron, Dionysus and Argus forever?' Piper shrugged. 'I mean, I know we can't keep them away forever, but maybe we can...' They heard a knock on the door.  
'Jason? The horn sounded five minutes ago, are you coming to dinner?' Jason coughed.  
'Eh, yes!' He gestured at Piper to hide the kittens.  
'Somebody needs to stay with them!' She mouthed. Jason didn't say anything back. Piper put the box on Jasons' bed (Which was difficult to see from the door, because it was close to the wall) and jumped on there as well. Jason opened the door. 'Hey Chiron!'  
'Hey, Jason.' He coughed. 'Is Piper also inside, by chance?' Jason nodded. Piper stepped out of the cabin.  
'Hey Chiron.' She heard mewing inside and quickly closed the cabin door. Chiron didn't even react to Piper being inside Jasons' cabin. He just turned around and walked back to the pavilion. Piper and Jason followed a few metres after him. 'What now?'  
'Do you think they'll survive for ten minutes?'  
'I don't know. I hope so.'  
'What if they scratch up my sheets?'  
'Then we ask Travis and Connor to steal new ones.' Jason noticed that Piper sounded a little desperate.  
'Alright, Alright.'  
They both ate as quickly as they could. Before Dionysus had even finished the announcements, they were done with their mashed potatoes. While the rest slowly picked up their spoons, Piper and Jason jumped up.  
'Piper, Jason, would you two please sit back down and wait until the other campers have almost finished?' Chiron slowly asked. Piper looked over at the head table.  
'Well, eh, I left the tab open in my cabin and I think it might be flooding my cabin.'  
'Too bad.' Chiron pushed Dionysus away after the god said that.  
'Then Jason can go close his tab. Piper, you stay here, please.' Piper sat down and crossed her arms. A few people from her table giggled.  
Jason jogged over to his cabin. He had no idea how to feed cats (He assumed that Piper didn't either, though), but he would figure it out. He stepped into the cabins. He was glad to see that, even though the cats had jumped out of the box, they did not tear his bedsheets to shreads. He picked a can of cat food and a can opener from the floor. He opened the can and within seconds there were five cats walking in front of his feet and purring. Jason noticed that the bowl was still on the floor.  
With the can of cat food awkwardly held up in the air, he bent down to pick up the bowl. One of the kittens tried to leap up and tap the can out of his hands. Jason quickly got up and threw the food in the bowl. He put it on the floor.  
He stared at the cats while they attacked the little food bowl. 'Piper, did you feed these enough on the way?' He whispered. He saw that one kitten was pushed away by the others. He opened another can and gave it to the other cat to eat, but that did not really work, because immediately the most dominant kitten pushed him away again. Jason sighed.  
He put out his hand to the pushed away kitten to pet it, but it dashed away. Jason saw the cat staring at him from under his bed. He manoevered past the other cats on his floor (The other cats seemed to be less shy). One almost clawed him in the face. Jason picked up a bag of cat treats and opened it. He put some treats into the bowl and picked out one more to lure the shy cat away from under his bed.  
It didn't work. Apparently the cat was just too afraid of him. He sighed and sat down on his bed. Of course, that immediately made the cat sprint to the other side of his room. Jason sighed. He slowly closed his eyes a little.  
Suddenly, he heard someone knock on the door. Jason looked at the floor to make sure he did not stand on a kitten and walked over to the door. 'Piper?'  
'Mr. Grace, how long does it take to close a tab? Or did your cabin flood this much in seven minutes?' Dionysus asked. Jason yelped.  
'Uh, yeah! it's crazy I mean I am just mopping it all up so that...'  
'Grace, there is no tab in the Zeus cabin.' Jason looked at the all the cat stuff on the floor and the actual cats running around his cabin. 'I... I had the Hephaestus cabin install one.'  
It was silent for some time. 'I believe you should have told Chiron that, if it was true,' was the answer. That was also the moment one of the cats decided to Mew - loudly. One other cat replied. Jason bit his lip while the cats started making enough noise to wake up a Hypnos kid. He turned around and walked to his cabin door. He opened the door just slightly.  
He saw that Piper was hanging around in the background. Dionysus stared at him with a mixture of annoyance, anger and interest.  
'Did you and your girlfriend sneak cats into camp?'  
'No...' He looked Dionysus in the eye.  
Jason blinked. The god didn't even look actually angry. More defeated and interested. 'Um, so...' A cat bumped it's head against Jasons' thigh and sneaked past. Jason quickly picked it up. 'They are for emotional support, you know, because so many campers expierence mental problems...' He felt Piper laying her hand on his arm.  
'It was my idea. I know pets are illegal, but just... they are so cute!' Piper saw that Chiron was coming up to them as well. A small group of people started to gather around them to see what was going on.  
Jason turned back to Dionysus. He had to think of sad sealpuppies to not laugh. The god had clearly completely melted by the sight of the kitten.  
'Piper, Jason, what's going on?' Chiron asked. Dionysus turned his head towards the centaur. Chiron saw the kitten in Jasons' head and sighed so deeply that the kitten shivered. 'Pets are not allowed.'  
'Chiron, we got them so that the campers have a little pet to pet when they feel ill. It works!' Piper said. Jason noticed some charmspeak in her voice. Chiron looked at the kitten. 'They are cute, I must say.'  
'A comfortable home helps with recorving from mental issues and pets make homes more comfortable, so...' Dionysus' voice trailed off. Chiron sighed again.  
'We'll see how it works out. I'll put cat food on the shopping lists.' Chiron took a moment of silence. 'How many are there?'  
'Five.'  
'Alright. Cat food for five, then.' He walked away, softly pushing Dionysus along.  
'That was easy...' Piper said. Jason shrugged.  
'Yeah. Yet, have you seen how Dionysus looked at this kitten?' Piper shrugged.  
'How, then?'  
Chiron started laughing as soon as Piper and Jason where out of earshot. Dionysus looked down. 'What?'  
'How many people know that you are this weak for cats?'  
'I am not.'  
'I saw the way you stared at those kittens. If I hadn't told Piper and Jason that they could keep them, you would've helped them hide the kittens.'  
Dionysus shrugged. 'Shouldn't you be getting all those kids around their camp fire or something?' He didn't wait for an answer. 'That's what I thought. See you tomorrow, Chiron.' He dissappeared. Chiron grinned.  
A girl ran past. 'Sarah! Would you please tell everyone to go to the campfire?' He yelled.  
'Cool, Chiron!'  
'Don't forget to tell Piper and Jason that they can bring their cats!'


	129. Time Travel

'Hey, Neeks?' Will put his hand on Nico's arm. They were laying on the grass on half-blood hill, just past curfew.   
'Hm?'  
'What would you do if you had a time machine?' Nico turned his head towards Will.  
'What?'  
'Like, if you had a way to jump through time. What would you see, or do, or try...'  
'I don't know. I can hardly pick what I want for dinner, why are you asking something like this?'  
Will shrugged. 'I... I think I would to travel back to the first Titan war, or something.' He heard Nico laugh. 'And then what? Tell Kronos what Zeus so that the gods die?' Will sighed.   
'Anything but that, Nico. Literally anything but that.'  
'So, you would rather go to Zeus and tell him that...'  
'Neeks!'  
'Alright, alright.' Nico grinned. Will Scoffed.   
'I think I am going to bed.' Will got up.   
'Will? Will, I didn't mean it!' Nico sat up and gave Will his biggest puppy dog eyes. Will sighed and kissed him on the head.   
'See you tomorrow, Neeks.' He walked away. Nico stayed behind, on half blood hill. He fell back into the grass and looked up at the moon.   
What Would I do if I could time travel? He thought. It was almost a full moon - only two days to go. Nico took a deep breath. He had to go back to his cabin soon - he didn't feel like getting eaten by the harpies that day. He took another deep breath, and closed his eyes for a small, short moment (Which, you know, famous last words in this book).   
When Nico opened his eyes again, the space around him was dark. Nico blinked a few times. Nothing happened. The enviorement felt cold, and empty, like a huge nothing. Slowly, he tried to move his arms. He felt them going up and down, but couldn't see them. He also realised that he could move them around surprisingly quickly. He moved his hand close to his face. He couldn't make out the silhouette. 'Will?' he whispered. He heard his own voice, but it didn't go anywhere.   
He noticed something in the corner of his eye. He tried to turn around, to see what it was. His body moved quickly, like he was spinning around in some kind of sick funfair ride (He had been on a really traumatic ride once. He knew what it felt like). He didn't see anything. He blinked.   
Now, he saw a white speck, somewhere on the 'horizon' (He couldn't think of a better word, but it also wasn't a horizon). He narrowed his eyes. The white ball got bigger. Nico moved his arm slightly back. The speck expanded even more. The white light was blinding. Nico held his arms in front of his eyes and snapped them close, trying to shield himself from the blinding white nothingness.   
When he opened his eyes again, he was still floating around in what felt like nothing. Yet, this time he could see things. He was floating over a giant, red orb. He blinked. He couldn't move his body, but he felt like he was being pulled towards the red orb. He felt something run down his cheek. It felt so weird that he shivered and closed his eyes again.   
He kept them closed this time for a few minutes. Slowly, he opened one eye. He saw clouds and blue sky. He opened the other eye. He tried to move his fingers. He felt a wave of relief when he realised that he could move them all. He realised he was laying down on something soft. 'Must have been a bad dream,' he muttered.   
Slowly, he tried to sit up straight. For a few seconds, he had a few sun specks in his eyes. Yet, he did not fall back down on the grass. When he got his eyesight back, he looked around. He had expected to see half blood hill, but instead he was sitting on a small patch of grass, close to the end of a cliff. Behind him was a forest. In the distance, he saw a mountain range.  
He stood up, which caused more sun spots to fly in front of his eyes. After they were gone, he tried to look over the edge of the cliff. He had to bite his tongue to not scream. Down in the valley walked a family brontosauri.   
Now, Nico had expected to see a lot of things. But a huge, alive dinosaur out of the jurassic period was not one of them. He shook his head, but made sure he didn't blink. He leaned over the edge again. He saw some other small dinosaurs walk around, seemingly trying not to get stepped on by the huge brontosaurusi.   
He had to close his eyes - it was too much to take in. When he opened them again, the earth looked bare. It was raining a little. For some reason, the rain hurt the parts of his body that were not covered with clothes and it left marks on the parts that were. Nico didn't see a lot of dinosaurs anymore, even though he concluded that he was still standing on the same ledge.   
Behind him, he heard something. He turned his head around. A giant boulder was barreling towards him. He screamed, put a few steps back and slipped of the edge.   
Before he plummeted to his death, he closed his eyes again. After a few seconds, he was lying down again, somewhere in a forest. He coughed. Behind him, he heard a giggle. He turned his head to the side. Next to him sat a dryad. She had a small basket of fruit next to her. 'Oh! You're here!' She blushed. Nico swallowed.  
'Eh... yeah. How... What year is it?' Nico asked.  
The nymph blinked. 'The year? Did lord Zeus announce something about a year? What is that?' Nico shook his head. 'No, I don't think that was Zeus. Eh...' Nico bit his nail. The girl tilted her head, seemingly waiting on him to say something.   
'Are humans already a thing?' He decided to ask. The dryad laid her hand on her fruit.  
'Humans? What are those? Where they a thing Kronos had? I thought that were dinosaurs...' Nico turned his head towards the sky again. He was confused. 'Hey, is everything alright?' he heard the nymph ask. 'Do you want some fruit?' Nico didn't answer. Instead, he closed his eyes again.   
He opened them again when he heard voices. He jolted up and looked around to see if there were actual humans around. Behind him, he did see two humans, with bows, baskets and wearing animal hides. So, two humans who were clearly hunter-gatherers. Nico rolled his eyes. One of the hunters yelled something at him in an ancient language that was unknown to a modern boy like Nico (And, lets be real, everyone in our time). Nico dropped back down on the ground and closed his eyes again, before one of the men could shoot hi.   
This time, he waited until he heard so many voices that he was sure the humans weren't still in the hunter-gatherer period. When he dramatically opened his eyes again, The first thing he saw was a building in the style of the Big House, but smaller. A young woman was looking at him. When she realised he was looking back, she quickly pulled her head scarf around her head and padded back into her house. Nico swiftly jumped up.   
Alright, this looks like the ancient greek period, he thought. Nico realised he hadn't tried walking around in the weird places yet. He still didn't understand what in the name of the gods was going on, but he had gotten used to situations like that and exploring the area for a bit had never worked out wrong (Except for that one time, a little while ago, when Clarisse got trapped after Annabeth had tried to look around. She told that story every single time she got the chance).   
From the five minutes he spend walking around, he concluded that he was in Olympia. He had been there once, and Chiron had a big map of . The city wasn't very big, he thought, but it was so... clean and neat. Nico leaned against a pilar in the middle of the square. In the back of his mind, he started to realise what was going on. He sighed. For a few seconds, he closed his eyes.   
He heard someone scream behind him. Nico smelled smoke. The world around him was hot. He wasn't lying down anymore - he was standing up straight. He felt the adrealine flow through his body. He opened his eyes. The world around him was on fire. He saw people run around with buckets of water. Whatever it was, Nico didn't want to be there. The great fire of London, he thought, before closing his eyes again.  
He kept them closed until the sounds around him started to fade. He opened one eye again. The sun was big and red. He saw a weird type of creature running around by his feet. He sighed - his breath shivered. He dropped back on the ground and kept his eyes closed until he became unconcious. 

He woke up in the sick bay of camp Half blood. Will was sitting next to his bed. He looked tired. When he saw that Nico's eyes were open, he shot up straight. 'Neeks! Thank the gods, you are awake! Why didn't you go to bed last night? We found you on half blood hill, unconcious, with the harpies around you...' Will shook his head. 'I love you, Neeks. Just, tell me what happened.' Nico didn't answer right away. He felt groggy.   
'Remember a few weeks ago? When I got stuck in the underworld with the elder gods?' Will nodded. 'Yes, of course.'  
'Something like that, but... like, it was time travel. I saw Olympia, the old city, the time of Kronos I guess... The great fire of London... I don't know, Will.' Will sighed. He sat down on Nico's bed and put his hand on Nico's forehead.   
'Nico, how sure are you that there isn't some god toying with you?'  
'So it wasn't a fever dream?'  
'I was thinking that too.' Nico sighed deeply. So did Will. 'So, Neeks, anything interesting in the past?'  
'I think that the earth was inhabited by the dinosaurs during the Titan age. The Meteor was probably rocks thrown by the hekatonkheires.' Will couldn't help it; he laughed.  
'You should get some more rest, Nico. And no more adventurous trips through time, alright?' Nico smiled. 'Yeah, good idea. Also, Will?'  
'Hm?'  
Nico reached up and kissed Will on the cheek. 'I love you too.'


	130. The Great Trivia Showdown

Athena let her gaze glide around the room in a mysterious manner (So she thought). She heard someone sigh. 'Cut it out and ask away, Athena.' Athena scoffed.  
'What was Achilles' weak spot?'  
'Actual questions, Athena!' She heard Hermes yell. She rolled her eyes.  
'Just testing if you all are awake. Now, what is 6 + 8 x 9 - 10?' Five seconds later, someone slammed the bell in front of them. 'Persephone?'  
'That should be one-hundred and sixty!'  
'No. Anybody else?' She let her gaze go around the room. She made eye-contact with Hermes.  
He smashed the bell. 'It's sixty-eight.' Athena sighed.  
'Point for Team... ugh... We-are-not-weak-we-are-here-to-win-screw-all-you-losers-and-you-too-Athena.' She coughed.  
'That's a mouth full. Now, next question...' She heard another sigh coming from the contestants. 'Athena, go on! I want to be done as quick as possible!' Aphrodite yelled.  
'Why is Lettuce considered dead-man's food?' Athena asked, with a monotone voice and while staring Aphrodite dead in the eyes. The goddess' lips trembled.  
She jumped up and smashed the bell. 'Because Adonis is dead!' She wailed, before running out of the room. 'One point for team Ancient Beauties!' Athena shouted, smugly.  
'That was evil, Athena,' Demeter (Team Sunshine and tulips) remarked. Athena shrugged.  
'She shouldn't have mouthed off. Next question...'  
'I'm leaving.'  
'Me too!' More people started to voice their complaints. When it got quiet again and the door closed, there were only about eight gods left in the room. Athena let it be silent for a few seconds, before dropping all her flashcards with questions on the floor.  
'So, what do you all say about a trivia battle between all of you and eight kids at camp Half-blood?'  
'To show them that we know things better then them?' Hecate asked.  
'If you want to see it like that. Interesting that You ask that, Hecate...'  
'Yeah, yeah. Let's go, shall we?' Hecate looked around the room. Even though some people looked like they thought it was boring, they clearly didn't want to argue with Hecate and Athena at the same time, so they all nodded anyway.  
A few seconds later, they all appeared in the pavilion of camp Half-blood. A few kids screamed when suddenly eight gods dropped out of the sky. Most of them dropped their utensils. Chiron and Dionysus jumped up. 'What's going on!?' Chiron asked, sounding slightly panicked.  
Apollo sighed. 'Athena, did you start with that trivia-game at about twelve O'clock so that we all could travel to camp Halfblood and play trivia against these kids, while they were all here?' Athena shrugged.  
'Maybe.' She heard sighing coming from the head table. She turned around and gave Dionysus and Chiron a glance that said 'I know what I am doing and nobody messes with me.' They noticed it (Lucky for them. Otherwise things might have gotten messy).  
Athena walked to the middle of the pavilion. 'Alright. I have Hecate, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Nemesis, Psyche, Hymenaeus, Hermes and...' Dionysus disappeared so quickly that his chair fell back on the floor. Athena shrugged. 'Alright, just eight I guess. So, I'll need eight children to battle against them and I'll be the quiz master.'  
'Athena...' Chiron begun  
'Chiron, I...'  
'Lady Athena, I request that they can first finish their lunch and form a team. Maybe you can set up the quiz space in the meantime?' Chiron smiled at the goddess. It was one of his smiles that the demigods knew as his 'Don't-talk-back' smiles, which Athena somehow obliged to. She and her team of gods strided off to the Big House.  
Chiron turned to the demigods with pity in his eyes. 'I am very sorry, guys, but I think we'll have to listen to them. Does anybody want to...' As soon as he said that, five people jumped up. A lot more people got up as well.  
Chiron raised his eyebrows. 'Alright then. Who were the first five who jumped up?' Will, Malcolm, Piper, Lacy and Lou Ellen walked to the front. After a few seconds, Nico ran up to the front as well. He grabbed Wills' hand. Nobody complained about it.  
Chiron chose four more kids (Three boys called Patton, Terry and Simon, and a girl called Martina) to represent the campers in The Great Trivia Showdown: Campers Versus Gods edition (As they decided to call it). After they were done eating lunch, Chiron send them to the Big House, where Athena had set up her show.  
When they stepped inside, the demigods almost got blinded by flashlights. Will blinked. As a son of Apollo, he had the ability to look into really bright lights without getting blinded. He saw Athena standing in front of a camera.  
'Welcome watchers of Hephaestus-TV! Welcome to the once in a lifetime Great Trivia Showdown: Campers Versus Gods Edition!' Piper giggled a little.  
'once in a lifetime? they are immortals!' She whispered to Malcolm. Malcolm shrugged.  
'Well, I guess that means she doesn't plan on barging into camp with a trivia show ever again,' He said. Almost all the other demigods started giggling. All except for Nico, who started to regret this all.  
Athena went on with her introduction. The other gods moved on their seats a little - they seemed to be uncomfortable as well. Except for Apollo and Hermes, who looked like they were here to win and only to win.  
Athena tapped her flashcards and walked to the hearth. In the room were two tables, both with eight seats and eight bells. By the hearth stood a lectern, with Athena behind it. Seymour the panther head was curiously looking at everything that was going on. The contestants took place behind the tables.  
Athena coughed and smiled at the camera, which was set up in front of her. 'Never knew our older sister could be such a show woman,' Apollo whispered to Hermes (They knew full well that the camera recorded every single word they said). Hermes nodded. Athena looked at her flashcards, then let her gaze go around the room until it was dead silent. 'What is the name of Tom Buchanan's' mistress in The Great Gatsby?'  
Martina slammed her bell a second before Hecate could do the same. Athena pointed at Martine. 'Myrthle!'  
'Correct!' A weird, scary cheering sounded from hidden speakers. It was probably meant to be happy, but it made everyone even more uncomfortable than they already were. A counter appeared above Seymour's head. One point was awarded to the team of Demigods. Seymour howled because of the weird sounds.  
Athena dropped one card onto her lectern. She picked up the next one, which had a green stripe over the back. Malcolm looked at his peers. Yes, they also found it weird, just like him. 'What is the difference between Darwinism and neo-darwinism?' Apollo smacked the bell so quick that the demigods thought they saw sparks fly.  
'Neo-darwinism follows Mendel's' discovery about genes and inheritance!'  
'Correct!' The weird sound sounded again and the counter changed. Seymour shook his head. He didn't understand what was happening and he couldn't run away from it. Patton realised it. 'Uh, Lady Athena, I think the cat might really hate the sound...'  
Athena turned her head around and looked at the panther head. She sighed and pushed a button on her lectern. 'There will be no more sounds,' She sighed. The campers looked at each other. Nico grabbed Wills' hand under the table. 'Gods, help,' He muttered. Will squeezed his hand. 'Calm, Calm,' He mumbled back.  
Athena got out her next flashcard. 'How many entrances are there to the Underworld as of now?' Nico slammed the bell so quickly they he didn't realise Wills' hand was still in it. 'Ow,' The son of Apollo muttered. Nico softly petted his boyfriends' hand before giving the answer. 'It's six.'  
'Correct!'  
The score board still changed the numbers, but without the obnoxious sound this time.  
For a few minutes, the gods and the Campers were so focused on answering the questions that nothing really happened besides a lot of answering. The gods watching Hephaestus TV started to get bored. Lucky for them, so did Apollo and Hermes.  
Hermes was slowly tapping his bell. It was dinging a little, but not so much that Athena heard it. Yet, Apollo, who was sitting next to him, did. He softly giggled and started tapping his own bell too, but in a different rhythm. Hymenaeus, god of weddings and wedding hymns, started to slowly tap on the wood of the table to get a different sound.  
Athena heard it this time. Her expression darkened. 'Guys, cut that out.'  
The only response was that Piper started to beatbox along and Patton, Hecate and Malcolm begun making sounds by tapping random Surfaces.  
Athena clenched her jaw. 'Guys...'  
'Tieneke! I never noticed you clenched your jaw when you got angry! It's kinda cute!'  
'Don't call me Tieneke, we aren't in the Netherlands and even there it wouldn't be alright. Now everyone focus so I can ask the next question! The demigods are winning, so pay attention!' The sound slowly died down. Athena sighed.  
'Thank you. Now...'  
'You're welcome!'  
'Shut up, random kid, I...'  
'What can I say, except, you're welcome?' Apollo singsonged.  
'You're welcome!' basically everyone who was not Athena sang back (Nemesis didn't, though. She was just reading the room, like she Always did). Athena smacked her hand on the lectern, which hurt, but she didn't show it.  
'Keep quiet! Now, what is the mass of the element Bismuth?'  
Psyche smacked her bell. '208,98!'  
'Correct!' Apollo gave Psyche a weird look.  
'How do you know that?'  
'I studied Chemistry at some univercity. Doing nothing but sitting on Olympus all day gets old really quickly, Apollo.' Apollo nodded. That seemed pretty logical.  
'Why Chemistry?'  
'Apollo, can we continue?' Athena joined into the conversation before Psyche could answer. They both closed their mouths and turned their attention back to Athena.  
Athena looked at the remaining flashcards. The questions got answered faster than she thought they would be. She only had four questions left. She had not taken a lot of questions with her, because she knew the people on Olympus would get bored with demigods and gods answering question quickly. Still, four was not a lot.  
She scraped her throat. 'What...'  
'Do you need a cough bonbon?' Will asked. Athena gave him an angry look.  
'That is one of the oldest jokes I know, Mr. Solace. Please just...' She made eye contact with Will and her voice trailed of. The son of Apollo seemed dead serious. She heard someone chuckle. (Piper turned her head away; Athena didn't need to know that she had laughed). 'Eh... no, Mr. Solace. I'll just ask the next question. Now, on what day did Franz Ferdinand get assisind?'  
Malcolm rang his bell with grace. 'The twenty-eight of July, nineteen fourteen,' He said. Athena nodded. 'That's correct.' The counter above Seymours' head changed again. The panther had long since lost interest in what was happening the main room of the Big House and had fallen asleep.  
The counter noted that it was seven-five, with the better score for the demigods. With three questions still to go, The gods could still win, if they tried their best (or if Hermes hacked the scoreboard with his mind. He can do it, I saw it once, during one of Athena's other trivia nights). Athena sighed.  
'You getting bored?'  
'Shut up Poseidon, who has been surprisingly quiet today now that I think about it, that's weird, and how tall is the statue of liberty?'  
It was silent for one second, before Hermes and Malcolm rang the bell at the same time. At once, they yelled forty-six! Yet, Malcolm was the only one who also said the word 'Metres high' right after that. Athena thought for a few seconds before pointing at Malcolm.  
'Point for the demigods. When you just say forty-six it might as well be centimetres or kilometres.' Hermes growled. He got an annoyed look from Apollo. Piper snickered again.  
Athena sighed deeply before she read the first question. She rolled her eyes so far back in her skull that she probably did see her brain. 'What was the name of Jennifer Lopez' first perfume?'  
Apollo smacked the bell. 'Glow!' He heard Poseidon, Hecate and two campers snicker.  
Poseidon sniffed. 'Hm. I think there is a good reason you know why it is called that,' he said. Apollo looked him dead in the eye. 'Better than thinking Axe body spray smells good, Oysterhead.' Some people started shouting  
'That's a genuine burn!' Terry shouted above everyone else's' voices. Poseidon got red in the face. 'Apollo, I...'  
'Calm down, all of you! There is only one question left - unless the Olympians get the next one right. In that case, it will be a tie and I will come up with a last question to settle the deal on the spot.' It got really quiet in the room, and even on Olympus everyone huddled closer to their television screen.  
'Which composer has his head on the Austrian euro-coin?' Athena asked.  
'Really, that's your last question!?' Nico bellowed before he really thought about the consequences of doing so.  
'Chance of the demigod-team forfeited! Team Gods?'  
'...Mozart?' Hymenaeus asked, with a meek voice.  
'Correct!' Athena threw her hands up in the air. The gods cheered. The demigods all stared at Nico (Who was hiding under the table) like he had committed the worst possible sin (even though he had done the exact opposite).  
Athena softly tapped her lectern. Everyone got quiet within nanoseconds. Athena stepped away from the lectern and walked to the middle of the room, with a golden card that she had saved for when this would happen. She looked around the room. 'The last question, my friends.' Everyone was staring at her like she was about to make a decision of life and death.  
'What did Odin say to Baldr after he died?'  
'I call nonsense! No one knows that!' Hecate screamed. Athena gracefully turned towards her. She just looked for a few seconds, before winking once. Something in her eyes told Hecate that she did know. Maybe Odin finally cracked after keeping the secret for too long.  
'Well? Does anybody think they know?' Athena looked around the room. For a few seconds, she listened. She could hear the birds singing in the trees outside. All of Olympus and Camp Half-blood was glued to their televisions.  
Nico slowly stood up from behind the table. 'I'll tell you. Whisper it in your ear, I mean,' he said. Athena slowly nodded. While everyone in the room gawked at him, Nico walked towards Athena. He leaned closer to her and whispered something in her ear.  
'I'll save some of those fries for you for after Ragnarok, when you'll be king.' Athena smiled at him. 'How do you know?'  
'I went down to Helheim once. I was curious.' Athena shook her head.  
'It's incredible, but he's right!' She said, louder. Nico walked back to his table, where the people had started cheering. Piper jumped over the table and kissed him on the cheek. 'Nico, you genius!' Will grabbed his hand, softly pushed Piper away and kissed him on the mouth.  
'Did you go to Helheim to ask him?'  
'Yeah. Baldr heard it, somehow. Maybe Odins' magic reaches towards Helheim.' Will shook his head.  
'I thought we reached the high point when you literally travelled through time via dreams.'  
The people at the godly table were all dumbstruck. Absolutely speechless. After what felt like a few decades, Psyche got up. She walked towards Nico and grabbed his hands. 'You did great.'  
'Thanks, ma'am.' Psyche smiled and disappeared into the void, or, you know, back to Olympus.  
To other gods also congratulated them and disappeared. Hecate had started laughing a few minutes back and hadn't stopped since. 'My god, that was great! You win! Well, bye bye! Looking forward to the next contest!' she said, before she disappeared.  
After ten minutes of Chaos, Athena, the campers and the set-up where the only thing left. Athena waved her hands and everything went back to normal. 'I wasn't planning to, but I might do this again,' she told the campers. 'Now, I think it might be time for a snack. Go see Chiron.' She disappeared as well, leaving the campers, and their strong feeling of having won from a team of gods, behind.


	131. Why No-one Ever Made A New Introduction Video

Connor Stoll turned on the camera. He nodded towards his brother, who waved. 'Does it work?'  
'Yes, why else would I have nodded?'  
'I thought you were just bobbing your head up and down.'  
'Ha-ha. Alright, where do we start?'   
Travis shrugged. 'I guess with a quick introduction of what this video is? So that the viewers aren't confused?'   
Connor nodded. 'Good idea.' He turned the camera around, so that it recorded both his brothers' and his own face. 'Hello new campers! I am Connor...'  
'... and I am Travis. And you...'  
'... Are a child of one of the gods.'  
'In this video, we will explain you what our camp looks like, what we do everyday and we'll also interview some people!'  
'Combined with handy information.' Connor winked and turned the camera around again.  
'I'll just leave the camera running and edit out the parts that are unuseable,' He suggested to Travis, who nodded.  
'Great idea.'   
Together, they walked out of the Hermes cabin. Connor held the camera right again. 'Over here, you see the place where you will sleep during your stay. There is one cabin for each god. There are thirty cabins as of now, but if you need a new one, just tell...'  
'Just tell Annabeth and she'll make one,' some girl behind them complained. 'Yeah, yeah. I have been sleeping on the floor of the Hermes cabin for two months!' Travis sighed.  
'Julie, you are a Hermes demigod. You belong here. And you sleep on the floor because of a bet with Sarah worth five hundred dollars, that you are winning.' Julie smirked.  
'So?'  
'We are filming, Julie.' Julie rolled her eyes and walked away.  
'Have fun with that, nerds,' she said, before running away, towards the training ring. Connor huffed and held the camera up again. 'Just tell Annabeth and she'll design a new one for you in a few weeks. While you wait, you can sleep in our cabin, which is the best cabin,' he turned around, towards the Hermes cabin, 'The Hermes cabin.'  
After a nice, long shot of all the cabins, they walked further. 'What now?' Travis asked.  
'Trainingfields? There are a lot of people there, we can ask them annoying questions... I mean interview them.'  
'Good.' Travis smirked. 'Let's make some nice... interviews.' Connor laughed. He knew exactly what his brother meant. 

'Piper! What are you doing?' Piper sliced through the neck of a training dummy with her dagger, Katropris.  
'You can see what I am doing, right? You didn't go blind overnight, right?' She answered, while checking if her dagger was still fine.  
'Can we ask you a few questions for the new camp half-blood introduction film?' Connor asked.  
'I am busy.'  
'Do you like being in camp half-blood?'  
Piper rolled her eyes. 'You are just going to ask me anyway, right?'  
'Is Chiron a good mentor to you?'  
'The very best there ever was.' She narrowed her eyes. 'You... you two agree right?' Connor and Travis nodded so quickly that the camera bobbed up and down like it was hit by a wave. 'Yeah, of course!' They said at once. Piper threw Katropris at another straw dummy. She hit it in the place where the heart would be if it was a human.   
Travis tapped Connor on the arm. 'Maybe we should go further,' he whispered. 'We don't want to scare any new campers.' Connor smirked.  
'Don't we?'   
Travis raised his eyebrows. 'Well, if we really want to scare them, we better go and... interview Clarisse, right?' Connors' smirk became wider.   
'Hm. Yeah. Hey, Piper! Thanks for the interview!' They quickly skipped away.  
Travis leaned closer to his brother, while they were walking to the spot where the Ares' cabin was training. 'We need juicier questions.' Connor tapped his cheek.  
'Yeah, you're right. Do you have any ideas?' Travis shrugged.  
'I'll try to think of something.'   
A few seconds later, they stood in front of a bunch of Ares kids training with battle axes that were as big as the Stolls' whole bodies. 'Hey guys!' Travis said, while walking to the middle of their little crew. He got a bunch of nasty looks, while he passed into the Ares' kids inner circle. He could almost feel the aura of fighting energy. He looked around (Which he took his sweet time for) until he saw Clarisse.  
'Clarisse! Can we interview you for our new Camp half-blood video?'  
Clarisse had been training with her spear. She made a move towards Travis. She stopped her spear mere centimetres in front of his chest, making sure that she showed she had full control of the weapon. Travis felt a little static energy coming off the spear. 'Are you on the training fields often?' Clarisse looked at him like that was the dumbest question possible (And, let's be fair, it wasn't the brightest question to ask to an Ares-kid). 'Go away before I don't stop before I hit your body.'  
'Can you tell us anything about what happened with Chris a few summers ago?' Connor asked, before immediately jumping away. Clarisse stared at him like she would have his head on a stake for that. 'Go away and don't let me see you again in the next sixty days!' She yelled, which was actually pretty intimidating if Clarisse did it (But like, only if Clarisse does it. For most people it just sounds childish and stupid, don't try it, if you loose any arguments it isn't my fault).   
Travis and Connor took the kind suggestion and ran away. One of Clarisse's' brothers threw a knife at their backs, which landed to the right of them at such an angle that they knew he deliberately threw it past them, as a warning. The stolls ran slightly quicker.   
Until they were back in the spot where the Aphrodite kids were training. Drew turned her head around and smirked. 'Darlings, are you two making a video?' She asked the Stolls, with just a teensy tiny bit of charmspeak in her voice. The Stolls turned around. 'Yeah,' they said in unison. Drew dropped her sword and flipped her hair over her shoulder. 'Can I leave a little message?' Connor handed her the camera.  
'Hey, new Campers! I am Drew Tanaka, from the Aphrodite cabin.' Drew winked at the camera. Meanwhile, Connor and Travis started to shake of the magic. Drew noticed it too. 'Camp is a safe place, believe me. Now, I have one last tip for you knew youngbloods...' She looked at Connor and Travis, who realised that what she was going to say was not positive for them.  
'Make sure to dress for success and don't trust the Stoll brothers, because they will steal your limited edition highlighter and resell it on Ebay, before acting like they didn't.' Connor janked the camera out of her hands. 'That wasn't us! That was Juliet!' Drew shrugged and picked up her sword. 'Hm.'  
Travis turned the camera towards her. 'Miss Tanaka, now that you left this great message' (he said the last thing through clenched teeth) 'Would you mind answering a few questions?' Drew rolled her eyes and shrugged. 'Yeah, sure.'  
'So why is makeup is important to you?'  
'It's not that important to me. And I guess I just got that specific part from my mother's' genes.'  
'You literally drove to New York once to get a limited edition lipstick.'  
Drew gave him a nasty glare, that went just unnoticed by the camera. 'Because Aphrodite wanted it. Plus, I wasn't alone, remember?'  
'So why did you attack Katrina a few days ago after she borrowed your lipliner?' Drew turned around so quickly her sword almost cut a bystander in half. 'Borrowed? Flat out stole and ruined, you mean! I got that lipliner from my mother! She had no business just taking it without asking me!' She pointed her sword at the boys. 'Now get out!'   
Travis and Connor decided to, once again, take that nice, sweet advice. Drew could be very effective with her sword (And also with her hair curler. There was a legend in camp half blood about Drew killing a monster with her steaming hot hair curler. She was a true hero that day). When they were far away enough from the training fields, Connor and Travis decided to take a break to catch their breath.   
'What now?'   
'Big House? Strawberry Fields?'  
'Strawberry fields. I need something calm. I am getting acne from the stress!' Travis overdramatically sighed. Connor chuckled. 'Let's go.'   
The Demeter and Dionysus kids were busy picking strawberries (Which grew back quicker than they could pick them. Those kids are more powerful than you think. I saw Katie Gardner grow prunes to shut the door to bunker 9 once. While Leo was in it) when Connor and Travis made their grand appearance (Which wasn't much appreciated).   
'Hello children with links to agriculture!' Connor shouted, so loudly that the people by the arena probably thought he was back. The children walking around by the strawberry fields just looked up, saw the Stolls,and went back to their work again.   
'What a tough audience,' Travis muttered to Connor. They stepped into the strawberry fields, to get the authentic biological experience and to ask annoying questions to unsuspecting labourers. First, they went to Katie.  
'Hey, Kate, what are you doing?' Travis asked, while his brother pointed the camera at her. Katie rolled her eyes. 'Can't you see? I am making sure we have fresh food at dinner tonight.' Travis nodded. 'What a noble task.'  
'Hush it, Stoll.' She kneeled down to pick some more strawberries. Travis pulled her up to her feet again and kissed her on the mouth. 'Love you too. Oh, we gotta run! Let's go, Connor!' Travis pulled Connor along, while quickly running to the other side of the strawberry fields.   
Connor stuck his tongue out. 'Did you really need to?' Travis smiled and nodded.  
'Very much. Now, are we done with the strawberry fields? I mean, they are pretty self explanatory, right? The Big House is the next stop. Let's go.'  
Connor just walked along - he didn't feel like arguing with his brother about something that he agreed with and he would keep his mouth shut about what happend with Katie (Today, that is). 'Alright. Shall we... interview Chiron, or just leave it?'   
'Of course we are going to interview Chiron. He owns the camp, doesn't he?' Travis answered, while they were stepping onto the veranda of the Big House. Chiron was sitting inside, looking over some reports, while Dionysus was sitting in front of him theoretically doing the same (But in reality he was too busy thinking about other, more important things than that).   
'Hey Chiron! Can we ask you a few questions?' Connor asked, while walking to the table they were sitting at. Chiron looked up. 'Is that for the new introduction video you two are making?' Now, Dionysus looked up as well. 'I didn't know you had commissioned another introduction video.'  
'I didn't,' Chiron answered, 'But they wanted to do it. So, what do you two want to ask?' He smiled at the Stolls, who pulled some chairs to the table. 'Well, why did you start with camp half-blood? The uh, short explanation, please,' Connor asked. Dionysus sighed and picked up one of the papers. Chiron quickly explained how he had started his camp, how much it all meant to him and the usual spiel they had all heard about because Chiron has a tendency to repeat what he says sometimes (He is four thousand years old, cut him some slack).  
Travis turned to Dionysus, who had actually managed to get through some paperwork while Chiron was telling his story. 'Is there anything you want to say to new campers, seeing as how you still work here?'  
'No. Also, how did you two manage to make seventy dollars worth of property damage in the last five days?' He asked, while looking up from a bill.  
'And that's the Big House! You're Always welcome here, but we are leaving now! See you back in the Dinner Pavilion!' Connor said, while he and Travis speed walked out of the Big House before Chiron could start asking questions as well.  
Yet, of course, they couldn't just do nothing until the evening. By the time dinner started, everyone knew about the Stolls making a new introduction film and about half of the campers were annoyed and/or angry with them. Travis and Connor cautiously walked to the Hermes table, still with the camera, fully aware that people were more than done with their shenanigans.  
They didn't look at Chris, who gave the Stolls some hardcore death glares. Connor and Travis walked towards the fire pit with the camera. They showed what they were doing, before filming the entire pavilion. That was as much smart things as they could do in a short period of time.  
'So, this is the dinner pavilion, where everyone eats three times a day. You need to come, because else...' Connors' voice trailed away.   
'Chiron, what happens if we do not come to mealtime?' Travis yelled.  
'Dishduty for a week,' Dionysus answered before Chiron could say anything. Chiron sighed and shook his head.  
'Washing the dishes for that specific meal, that is. Unless you have a proper reason to not be there.' Travis blinked.   
'I didn't know that,' He muttered, 'Oh well! Now, we are going back to our table...' Yet, Connor wasn't done yet. 'Has that ever been done by anyone? I mean, these people really like their food, I don't know...'   
'Connor, please sit down so that we can start with the announcements,' Chiron asked. Connor started walking back to the Hermes table, but he kept rambling. Travis started to chime in as well: 'Yes, but why do we have a punishment when nobody really commits the crime? I mean, it is just as weird as Julies eyebrows and Drews' obsession with makeup! Also, why did Daryl not get punished when...'  
A glass cup flew past their heads. 'Get out!' someone yelled. More campers started to get out of their chairs to get them out of the dinner pavilion. Travis and Connor ran away, while a chorus of voices started to yell at them to shut up.  
When they were gone, Chiron stood up and waved his hands to get the campers to calm down. When it was almost completely quiet, he walked to the end of the pavilion and yelled: 'Connor! Travis! It is true that nobody ever got that punishment. Yet, I am expecting you by the kitchens at half past seven!' he yelled. A few kids started cheering (Because that's how you know a story is real).   
Chiron sighed and turned around. 'Now, time for dinner. Also...'  
'Also, the Canoe races will be on again this monday, except that Katrina is not allowed to compete because of the incident from Friday,' Dionysus continued, breaking off Chiron. 'Also, the Capture-the-flag field will be smaller due to a outbreak of fire-breathing horses...'


	132. The Aquatic Beast Percy Can't Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new monster has landed in Camp Half-bloods' lake… what can the demigods do about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My computer was being a nerd and I couldn't put this through a second draft. Sorry for that!

Percy kneeled down on the dock and looked into the lake water. Chrion stood behind him, in wheelchair form. 'Yes, I do see something. The bubbles are also a sign that she's here. Yet, we can't be sure it is truly her.' Chiron sighed.  
'Well, I am not going to take unnecessary risks. Get back to the shore. From now on, campers will not be allowed within ten metres of the lake.   
'They won't be enough if it is really the Kraken.'  
'Nothing will be enough if he is really the Kraken.' Percy had to agree to that.  
Nobody knew how the monster got into their lake. Their inflatable trampoline had disappeared one day, and when somebody went to look where it went, all that happened was that a giant tentacle came out of the lake and flung the camper away. They had been carted of to the medical department. Immediately, Chiron had gotten a hunch about who the tentacle could belong to.   
Right now, after it was confirmed that it was, indeed, the kraken that was in the lake of Camp half-blood, Chiron had no idea what to do. If it had been any other monster, he would have probably had an answer, but he didn't even know what to do with a giant octopus. He and Percy walked away from the lake. 'Percy, do you know of any way to fight that... thing off?' Chiron asked. Percy shook his head.  
'I could ask my dad, but I think fighting of Cthulhu might have been easier.' Even though everything was horrible, Chiron chuckled. 'Luckily, Cthulhu doesn't exist.' Percy shrugged overdramatically. 'Do we know that for sure, Chiron?'   
'I'd rather you stop talking, Percy.'  
'Kayla, please go find the cabin captains! We'll have a meeting in five minutes!' Chiron yelled over Percy's head. 'Percy, you get inside already.'  
Slowly, the room with the ping-pong table started to fill up with the different cabin captains. 'What's going on? Piper asked, while walking inside with Lou Ellen. Percy took a deep breath.  
'Well...'  
'Let it go. I'll hear it in a few seconds. So that you don't have to explain it three times, you know.' Percy nodded and couldn't help but smile. 'Thanks, Piper.'  
When everyone had gathered around, Chiron and Dionysus walked into the room. Chiron immediately started talking: 'To say it in a very short manner: The kraken is currently in our camp lake.' He waited for some time. People around the room gasped. Some of them looked at each other in panic. Travis got his agenda out of his pocket. 'Alright, it isn't april fools, so we probably have an actual emergency.'  
Chiron had to resist the urge to give a not so nice answer back to travis. 'I think we can speak of something slightly more than just an emergency, Travis. Now, it is still in the lake and has only wounded one child. Soon, it might go to bodies of water in the mortal world and also start eating people.'  
'Why didn't it do that before? It must have been somewhere, all this time!' Will Solace asked.   
'Because it was slain about two Thousand years ago - we are in luck that it takes so long for it to be reborn.'  
'So it got reborn... in our lake.'  
'I think it got reborn somewhere in the deep sea. Yet, it does not stick to usual human or monster rules - it can get to any body of water it wants...'   
'So tomorrow it could decide to just hang out in the Hudson river?' Piper asked, even though Chiron was still speaking. She sounded a little panicked. Everyone looked at Chiron, desperately wanting him to say No! Of course not! But sadly, he nodded. 'Yes, Piper, that is a possibility. Which is why we have to find a way to expel the monster.'  
'Can't the gods help?' Katie Gardner asked, while side eyeing Dionysus. The god shook his head. 'Zeus doesn't take up my Phone calls or Iris Messages. I could ask Poseidon, but the kraken kind of hates him after the incident with Kimoplea... She'll get mad when she sees Poseidon.   
'But what can we do then? I mean, we are just demigods...'  
'We thought Kronos and Gaea, of course we can...'  
'Think of the names, please...'  
Percy was tuning out. His dad had told him of the Kraken before. Somewhere during that one conversation, Poseidon had mentioned how he could get rid of the giant octopus for another two Thousand years. What was it? It had something to do with flashing colours and smoke, he remembered that...  
'Chiron, do you remember who the last person was who killed the Kraken?' Percy asked, unaware that he interrupted Clarisse. The daughter of Ares shot him an annoyed look, but Chiron still answered Percy: 'Not really. It was a long time ago. I do remember that they were a child of a norse god... of fire and smoke, I believe... And Odin told me they had a gender neutral name...' Percy got up.  
'I think I might have an idea about what we need to do...'  
'Percy has an idea people! Take cover!' Travis Stoll yelled. Percy saw that Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Percy's ideas might be crazy sometimes, but they have gotten people out of trouble more than once!' She told him. Percy gave her a wide smile.  
'Thanks, Annabeth.' She gave him a small smile back. Percy took a deep breath. 'So, my dad once told me how to get rid of that thing. I, eh... wasn't really paying attention, ADHD you know.'  
'Then what...'  
'Let me talk, Lou! But I do remember that he said something about vibrant colours, loud sounds and smoke. Chiron just told us that a child of Hephaestus was the one who destroyed the Kraken last time. I think they might have used a machine to create sounds and lights and, of course, their own hands to make smoke, lots of smoke...'  
'So, what's more important, smoke or sounds and colours?' Clarisse asked.  
'Smoke. The thing really hates smoke. They found that out during the event Dionysus mentioned. Kymopoleia somehow weakened the thing with smoke, after which the Kraken got back to the norse seas, where that demigod killed it with more smoke.'  
'How is it so weak to smoke? It is an aquatic animal!'  
'Nico, how should I know?'  
'You're the son of the sea god, I think you should have some knowledge of animals in your domain! I mean, everyone Always expects me to know everything about ghouls, ghosts...'   
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, if you want to know anything about crabs, I am your man. Yet, for some reason, the thing hates smoke. Which we are going to use to get him out.' He heard a groan somewhere in the back of the room. 'Leo, it is your camp too!'  
'Yeah, but now we will have to build a smoke machine! Why don't we at least get some Norse kids into this camp so that they can help us?'  
'That shouldn't be too much of an issue,' Dionysus said, while looking at Chiron. Chiron sighed and got a Phone out of his pocket. 'I'll call the hotel manager.'   
About fifteen minutes later, Magnus and Alex arrived. 'Helgi said that we had to come. Because we know some of you all,' Magnus told Chiron. Chiron nodded.   
'It's alright, Mr. Chase. Yet, we have an emergency on our hands.' Alex had already walked further. 'Yeah, yeah, Kraken. We can do it.'  
'You don't have to do it on your own, eh... How are feeling today?'  
'Miss.'  
'Miss Fierro. Over there is your team.' Chiron pointed at a group of kids standing close to the big house. A team had been formed, consisting of the hephaestus kids (but not Harley, who was eight years old and considered to young to fight a huge squid), Percy, Annabeth and Malcolm, Clarisse and Will Solace (To heal the people who got hurt). The rest of camp half blood was anxiously hanging around by the cabins, hoping the tentacles wouldn't be long enough to snatch them from there.  
'So, Greeks, what are we going to do?' Alex asked, while stepping into the middle of the circle. Nyssa turned towards her. 'We are going to use sound and music to get it to the surface and then smoke it out.' Leo created fire with his hands to emphasize what she said about the smoke. Alex nodded. 'Alright, alright. And how do we rule out the possibility that the sounds of music and bright lights and colours will only drive it deeper to the bottom of the lake, out of the lake or will make it so angry that our small little team doesn't stand a single chance?'  
Nobody answered to that for a few seconds. 'We'll see when that happens. We don't really do planning to far ahead here.' The rest, even Malcolm and Annabeth, nodded. Alex started to laugh. 'I like you all. Let's go and smoke out this giant, dangerous, mythical squid.'  
They all collided around the lake. The hephaestus kids were pushing a tower onto the dock. It was covered in a layer of plastic and glass - a material only Hephaestus kids could make - but inside were a powerful music installation and a disco light projector. Originally, it was meant to lighten up the campfire evenings, but it worked in this situation as well. Percy walked onto the dock. He stepped in front of the tower and kneeled down.   
He wished he hadn't done that. Deep under the surface, he saw a big yellow eye. The pupil narrowed when it saw Percy. A loud, blubbering sound rose up from the lake. A few kids of the rescue team stepped back. Percy stayed were he was. The squid did the same thing. Percy took a deep breath. 'Alright. Turn on the machine. Don't start calmly, then it might try to snatch one of us to try and make it stop.' He said it softly, hoping that the beast didn't have ultrasound hearing.   
Nyssa did hear him, just like Percy had hoped. She turned the volume as high as she possibly could and reached for the turn on button, before retrieving her hands. 'Wait. Mason...' Mason rummaged through a large bag which they had also brought along. He got out a bunch of earplugs.   
After they had all protected their ears, Nyssa punched the button. The music was so loud that Percy could hear a faint sound through the specially designed earplugs. He wondered what the people by the cabins did about the eardrum destroying sound. They must be hearing it. Well, too late to do anything about it.   
Nyssa turned on the lights. Percy hoped they didn't have anybody with epilepsy in there team. The monster, deep down in the lake, certainly heard and saw everything. Percy saw it's pupils growing wide, before another scream erupted from the lake and five tentacles shot out. Percy jumped through the little door that lead to the inside of the tower.   
He slammed the door shut and looked through the see-through walls. He saw a hawk flying through the sky - well, a hawk with teeth. It soared through the tentacles, before diving down and biting one.  
Alex Always thought being a bird gave her a sense of freedom. A hawk with teeth was one of the best things she had ever turned into. Yet, she realised soon enough that she hasn't fully thought the plan through. As soon as she bit into the tentacle, it retrieved into the water and pulled her with it. Another blood curdling scream, which she felt rather than heard. She let go of the tentacle and changed into a water flea - something so small the kraken wouldn't be able to get her. Yet, she still realised that a single hit with the tentacle could knock her out.   
The other four tentacles still tried to grab what it could above the surface. They almost got a hold of Will, who managed to dart away just in time. Leo screamed and made a fire with his hands. 'Mason! Nyssa! Malcolm! Whoever! Grab the firewood! Find more of it!' Nyssa threw a branch in front of his feet, which Leo immediately put ablaze.  
They threw a few branches into the water. One of them hit a tentacle. The monster yelled as soon as he felt it hit him. Alex flew out of the water again, in the shape of a Phoenix (Show off, Annabeth thought, which is kind of weird considering that a Phoenix is really powerful and they needed that right now).   
Percy was still in the tower, looking at the squid aimlessly throwing its tentacles all over the place. He saw that the squid reached out again - only to throw it's tentacle straight against the tower. Percy didn't hesitate. He threshed open the door and dove into the lake.   
The first thing he saw was the giant squid eye focusing on him. Slowly, he sunk to the bottom of the lake. The pupil of the eye followed his every single move. Percy took another deep breath. He saw that the others were still throwing smoke and fire at it.   
Percy reached the bottom of the lake. Now, Percy saw the second eye as well. Percy realised that he had not seen anybody be angry before seeing this thing right now. She pulled back all of her tentacles and positioned them around her head in such a way that she could easily attack Percy. 'Uh, darling... I am sorry about all that... please wait...'  
'It's a little late for talking, don't you think, son of Poseidon? It was too late right after his daughter pulled that stunt on me...' One of the tentacles shot out and grabbed Percy by the neck. 'Yet, I would like to have a look at you... Owh!' Another scream, which Percy felt through his entire body. 'What is this... bowl!?'  
'Uh... our lake. Of about two hundred by one hundred and fifty metres,' Percy answered. 'It uh... might be a little cramped.'  
'It is, Son of the sea god. Yet, I cannot...'   
'The ocean is about four hundred metres to the left. There is more space over there. I believe the deeper ocean is one kilometre away from thaaatttt...' Percy felt something tearing at his stomach. His head spun. Little sunspots appeared in front of his eyes.  
When they disappeared, The water around them felt different. Colder. Salt. Percy realised that the Kraken had pulled both of them into the deep ocean - the really deep ocean. This was definitely not just a kilometre away from Long Island. This was somewhere around greenland.   
It was dark all around him. 'What are you...'  
'The Kraken, a Norse god.'  
'I didn't want to ask that.' Percy turned his head around. He saw the squids' giant yellow eyes. 'Yet, uh... this place.'  
'I am staying here.' Percy swallowed. He realised there was nothing he could about it - he couldn't fight against the Kraken on his own on the bottom of the sea. 'That's fine. This seems like a nice place to stay for a huge squ... for a the mighty Kraken.' The kraken narrowed her eyes. 'I'll forgive you for that, but only if you tell Aegir, Poseidon and whoever else meddles with the seas not to attack me ever again. Then I'll leave them alone too.' Percy opened his mouth.   
'I could also break your spine, of course...'  
'No, I'll do that. It's fine. I just, eh... don't know how to get away. What's the surface.' The Kraken sighed, which felt more like a gust of wind.   
The next moment, Percy was laying on the bottom of the lake in camp half-blood. He blinked, shook his head and swam to the surface. With a gasp, he put his head out of the water.  
'Percy!'  
'Oh, hey Annabeth.' He swam to the side of the lake. The tower was still standing on the dock. He climbed onto the surface. Will Solace came running towards him with a first-aid kit. Annabeth softly lowered him to the ground. 'Percy, where did you go? Where did... she go?'  
Percy shook his head. 'Somewhere... somewhere on the bottom of the deep seas. I thought Greenland when I first got there, but it might as well be the arctic or something in a very deep cave of the bermuda triangle.' He sighed deeply. 'I think... I think she might leave us alone if we leave her alone. She... said as much, out of nowhere.' Will tapped him on the shoulder.   
'Easy does it, Percy.'  
'Thanks, Will.' He yawned and smiled at Annabeth. 'I have a few letters to write, I think.'


	133. Two Is More Of A Crowd Than Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this story was written during the major heatwave. So… it isn't very good. Please stand by, the next one will be funnier (and better).

Annabeth very softly breathed, trying not to alarm the guard. She had never expected to be send on a quest to an old abandoned French castle that apparently had a monster living in it (She had no idea what. She just felt monster energy and smell coming of it). However, she knew it was in the next room.   
Slowly, she reached for her dagger. The next time a guard would walk out, she would duck into the room to get... whatever was in there. She had been standing hidden by the door long enough to realise that the guards came out every other five minutes. Apparently, their round was straight through the monsters' living room.   
Yet, of course, when a demigod has a plan, somebody has to ruin it, and this time it was because no guards came out of the door. Annabeth bit her lip. Suddenly, she heard something fall over, followed by screeching and screaming.   
The next moment, the door flew open and Clarisse came running through the door, followed by a troupe of guards. Annabeth blinked once, before immediately reacting to what was happening. She cut one of the monster guards with her knife. 'Clarisse!'  
The daughter of Ares looked over her shoulder. 'You get the one on the right!' she yelled. Annabeth gave her a nod, before she started walking slightly slower. The guard behind her was just as stupid as she thought. He started running quicker and bumped straight into the sharp part of Annabeth's knife. He dropped to the floor and started screeching.   
The sound was horrible. When Clarisse struck her opponent with her spear, it started to screech as well. Annabeth pressed her hands against her ears, while she was desperately trying to find an exit.   
Eventually, she and Clarisse sprinted through a opened door and smashed it shut before the monsters could get through. Still on their guard, the girls looked around the room. There was no one, and there were no paintings. Clarisse checked behind the curtains. Annabeth took a deep breath - she felt the presence of monsters far away, not currently in the room.  
'We're safe for now,' she whispered. Clarisse nodded.  
'Hm-mm. Say, owl head, what are you doing around here?' Annabeth raised her chin.   
'Chiron send me. On my own. What are you doing here, exactly?'  
'I was visiting my grandma nearby and felt monster aura. What else should I have done?'  
Annabeth shrugged. 'Alright, I guess. Now that we are here together, we should try to fight back at them together. What to do?' Clarisse bit her lip.  
'That screeching is the worst part. It just really sits in your head and causes a ringing in your ear.' Annabeth realised that she was right. She hadn't noticed the ringing before. 'Well, do you know if there is anything important happening around here?'  
'Apparently, the master of the house is waiting for a bride to arrive.'   
'Interesting...'  
'She's blond.'  
'Shut up and no way in Tartarus, Clarisse.'  
'It is that or screeching. It is easier...' Annabeth turned her head away. 

'Where did you get the dress from, anyway?' Annabeth asked, twenty minutes later.  
'It hung somewhere in a closet.'  
'What if it is poisoned?'  
'Didn't feel, smell or looked like it.' annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'That doesn't mean anything!'  
'Shhh! We are way to close! Act like a frail little bride!' Annabeth groaned, but she put on her sweet little woman face (Which immediately gave her cramps in her face). Clarisse knocked on the door, which they ran away from only an hour ago. 'What if he recognises you?' Annabeth muttered, while keeping her face in the same expression.  
'I believe he is visually impaired.'  
'Believe?'  
'Just trust me this once, Chase.' Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything back.   
The door opened. A monsterous guard stared at the girls with suspicion in their eyes. 'Qui es-tu?'   
'Elle est la Mariée,' Clarisse answered. Annabeth blinked. She lost her composure a little - she had no idea what French gibberish Clarisse had just told the guard. But the guard didn't ask anymore questions and let them through.  
Annabeth hadn't known what the master of the castle looked like before. And honestly, it could have been way worse. He looked rather normal, actually. Rather pleasant, Annabeth thought. In her head, she had already thought of a Jabba the Hutt type monster thing. Yet, she also knew that appearance was not the only thing that made a monster dangerous. Far from it - the normal looking monsters were the ones you trusted better and tended to overlook.   
The monster stood up (There was no way it wasn't a monster. His aura was way to strong for it to be a regular mortal). 'Bonjour, Kristina.' Annabeth panicked a little on the inside - if he would keep talking French throughout the entire mission, things would get difficult.   
'I am glad you could get here from ze United Kingdom.' Oh. Alright then, no French. Thank the gods. Clarisse answered for here.  
'Kristina is very excited to be here,' She said, loud, clear and in a deeper voice than regular. The monster raised his eyebrows. 'Can't she say that herself? I would never let a servant talk for me...' Annabeth saw Clarisse clench her jaw.   
'I...'  
'I am also so glad to be here, Sir. I am sure our Union will be a success,' Annabeth said before Clarisse could give the monster a snide comment that would make the entire plan fall apart. The monster grinned at her. Yeah, those teeth were sharp. Monsterly sharp. 'No need for calling me sir, sweetheart. I am Pierre Leroy, alright?' Annabeth gave him a sweet little smile.  
'Of course, Michael... Darling.' She screamed internally when she spoke the last word. She felt Clarisse next to her wince a little as well. Michael had a smug grin on his face. He nodded slowly. 'My servants will bring you too your room. Your servant will sleep with mine...' He stopped talking when Annabeth shook her head.   
'No, no, no, Michael. I need another woman around me, for advice. Please, she can sleep in my room...' Michael pursed his lips.   
'If that is what you want, darling.' He clapped in his hands. A servant scurried into the room 'Bring her to her suite.' The servant bowed and gestured at Clarisse and Annabeth to come along.

The room they were brought to was large enough to put six king sized beds in, with lots of space still left. 'He didn't say anything about the fact that you were already a wedding dress,' Clarisse said. 'What a dense...'  
'Sh! Wait!' Annabeth looked around the room, checking all the corners. 'Look behind the curtains. I'll look in the bathroom. I think there might be cameras or microphones hidden somewhere. Clarisse stopped talking and obliged.   
They couldn't find any cameras or microphones after that search, but Annabeth still didn't feel safe. She snapped her fingers a few times. 'Erm...' Then, she saw the radio in the corner.   
'We can put on some music...'  
'Unless that thing has a mechanism, so that it works two ways. That you didn't think of that, owl head.'  
Annabeth took a deep breath. 'You're right. Did you bring a Phone? Ipod?' She whispered.   
'No, too much danger. I forgot my demigod proof one in the cabin,' Clarisse whispered back.   
'Mine's still in my old clothes. We...'  
'I'll go get your old clothes. I can get into the wash room without it being suspicious. Wait here.' The last words were said slightly too loud, but Annabeth didn't really care. Nobody would be able to make anything out of the words 'Wait here' (So she thought).   
After Clarisse had left, it took Michael seconds before he stood in Annabeth's room. The daughter of Athena sighed internally - he really was that clingy and controlling. She felt pity for the real Kristina - until she realised that Michael would probably be gone by the time she would arrive. Yeah, Kristina would be safe.   
'What do you and your handmaiden want to talk about? Why is she French? Why does she call you... Annabeth?' He really does listen, Annabeth thought.  
'I thought a French handmaiden would be handy in France, so she could tutor me in the language, dear. We want to talk about some girly stuff for the wedding, nothing important, just the colours of the bridesmaids' dresses... And Annabeth is just a pet name, she thought I was named Annabeth when we met...'  
'And you didn't immediately fire her?'  
'... Nobody else could be hired.' Know shut up, alligator face, she thought after that. The mans' sharp teeth really made him look like an alligator a little. She decided to remember that small thought - you never knew.  
'How horrible! I'll get someone knew from Paris immediately!'  
'No, no, no, that's unnecessary, I trust her and I do not want someone else in this time...'  
'Hm. I'll bring food somewhere in the next hour, Kristina.' He turned around and walked out of the room.   
When Clarisse came back with Annabeth's old shirt and shorts (Which she had thrown into a nearby washbasket when she brought Annabeth the wedding dress) in her arms. 'Here.' Annabeth rummaged through the inside pocket of her shirt. 'You have inside pockets in your t-shirt?'  
'It's handy, Clara! Also, why didn't you check for stuff in my clothes!?' Then she remembered that somebody was probably listening along. She stopped talking and got her Phone out. She turned on the first song she could find and turned the volume high.   
'Alright, he heard everything we said before, he asks too many questions and he has really sharp teeth. Also, he'll have food brought somewhere in the next hour, which signals that we can't really talk because someone might just come walking through the door and then what.' Clarisse rolled her eyes.  
'This is getting too difficult. What happened to just tearing apart everyone and everything in your way on a mission?'  
'Could be how an Ares kid fixes it, but we Athena children keep it more refined.'  
'Refined, missy? I was the one who brought you the dress!'  
'SHh! He can probably still hear us!'  
'You were talking about demigods before!'   
Annabeth bit her lip. Yep, that was dumb. 'No more saying that word.'  
'Agreed.' Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. 

'We need to do something,' Clarisse eventually said.   
'Yes, but what? I mean, we can't wait weeks if not months for the wedding! Also, that well be in a room full off people...'   
'Maybe... maybe we will...' Before Clarisse could finish what she was saying, a servant came into the room with a platter full of food.   
'Here, this is for you,' She told Clarisse. Another servant came in with a bowl of salad.  
'And this is for Kristina,' She said, while putting it down for Annabeth. Annabeth felt like going up to Michael to kick him. 'Thanks,' She said, forcibly smiling. They waited for the servants to leave.  
Which they didn't. 'We'll pick up your plates after you've eaten,' one of them eventually said. Annabeth felt like throwing her bowl right against the wall - she would get just as much calorieës into her body that way. Yet, she decided that that wasn't very lady like and would probably rat her out, so she slowly started to eat the salad.  
Alright, it was a good salad, but it still seemed really weak next to the huge meal Clarisse was eating (and not holding back on). When they were both satisfied (Or Annabeth just finished her bowl), the servants brought it away.   
'Screw it, lets' just leave, I can't handle this,' Annabeth sulked. Clarisse stared at the duvet.   
'This entire mission is a train wreck. I second going away.' Annabeth turned off her Ipod.   
'Can you help me?' Clarisse unzipped the wedding dress. Annabeth stepped out of the dress. Quickly she put on her shorts and t-shirt. 'Thanks. Let's go.'   
They walked to the door. Annabeth tried to open it - only to find out it was locked. 'Oh, gods, no...' Annabeth whispered. Clarisse growled.   
'How difficult can a monster mission be!? If I had my siblings here, we would have just bashed his face.'  
'If we can get this door open, I see no problem with Bashing his face,' Annabeth answered. She banged on the door. 'Open up! Eh... I need a different kind of perfume!'  
'Perfume?'  
'Clara, I am trying my best over here!'   
'We don't we just climb out the window?'  
'Because that one is probably also locked, don't you think?'  
Clarisse tried it anyway. Annabeth was right, however. The daughter of Athena stayed by the door, listening if somebody came by. 

Nobody did for a few hours. Which gave Annabeth and Clarisse a lot of time to talk to each other. Way to much time to talk to each other. By the end of the evening, they were both sitting on another side of the room, livid with each other.   
Michael couldn't have picked a worse time to come into 'Kristina's' room. 'Good night, darling. I wanted t...' He was immediately tackled by both girls, who ran past him, screaming something about sending an exterminator, telling Chiron and wanting a divorce.   
Michael yelled for his guards to go after them, but it was no use. Annabeth and Clarisse got a few of them, before they got out of the castle.  
'I am never going to go on a mission with you ever again!'  
'Same!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, written during the Heatwave, wack. I'll write a better story about Annabeth and Clarisse going on a mission together when It is less hot.


	134. Hestia's Cooking Class

Athena shuffled around behind her kitchen isle. She was the goddess of wisdom and could do quite a lot of things. She could even figure some things out without directions, like she had done when she had to put an IKEA shelf together but someone (Hermes. It was Hermes, absolutely Hermes) had stolen and sold the instructions. But cooking? She was not very good at that.  
Hestia walked past the kitchen isles. She had initiated the idea that all of the Olympians learned how to cook, in case something like Apollo's journey would happen again and because she thought of it as an important skill. Everyone had taken one look at her glowing eyes and nobody had had the heart to say no.  
Which meant that everyone was standing in a kitchen at eight O'clock in the morning the next day. Artemis was slowly blinking. She rubbed her eyes. As the goddess of the moon, she was not much of a morning person - unless she pulled an all-nighter, which kept her energized all throughout the day (I don't know how, don't ask, gods are weird). Yet, she had slept the day before - right now, she was a little pile of misery.  
Hestia clapped in her hands. She walked to the front of the little tent (Oh, didn't I tell? They were in a kitchen tent in Demeter's garden. You know, a tent like in The Great Britisch bake-off. The kitchen of Olympus was way to advanced for a bunch of Olympians who can just about boil a pan of water without putting the stove on fire) and smiled charmingly at everyone, without even meaning to do so. Artemis, Athena and everyone else suddenly felt like everything was going to be alright - they just had to cook, what was the worst thing that would happen?  
Hestia clapped in her hands. A few raw carrots appeared on everyone's isles. 'Now, I just need you all to peel the carrots and cut up them into little circles!' She chirped, 'The knife is right next to your cutting board, but be careful, it is sharper than you think!' She continued.  
Poseidon took a deep breath, before he picked up the knife. He chose a smaller carrot to start with. He looked around the tent, to see what the others were doing. He saw that Artemis was slowly rasping the carrot, before cutting it up into little circles. Trusting the idea of his niece (Whom he thought cooked sometimes), he started to copy her.  
Meanwhile, Zeus was cutting his carrots into little circles, wondering why Poseidon was holding his knife so weirdly and 'shearing' the carrot. After he had cut four of his carrots into circles, Hestia appeared next to him.  
'Brother?'  
'Yes, Hestia?'  
'It goes easier if you first peel them. Like, get the yucky hard part off!' She told him. Zeus stared at the carrots. Now, he noticed that there was a little bit of dirt around them. 'Eh... Yeah, you're probably right.' He glanced around the room. He saw that most people were already done. Maybe more of my relatives can cook than I expected, he thought to himself.  
While Zeus was still struggling with his carrots, Hestia clapped in her hands again. 'Alright! Lay the carrots apart for some time... that can be in the pan that is on the side of the furnace... Good!' She snapped her fingers. On everyone's table appeared a bunch of potatoes. Some of them rolled into Zeus Carrot masacre. He screeched.  
Hestia stepped closer to his isle. 'Calm,' She whispered, 'Now, the rest of you can start peeling the potatoes and cut them into disks. Be careful, don't cut yourself with the knife! It is very sharp!' She turned back to Zeus. She zapped his carrots, so that they were perfectly cut. 'Here. Start on your potatoes. Peel them before you cut them into disks.' Hestia smiled before she walked away.  
She already knew at least one of them would cut themselves. That person was Hermes, who tried to peel his potatoes so that the peel came of in a nice, pendulum-formed line. Yet, he accidently missed a potato and cut himself in the thumb. Golden Ichor streamed out of his hand. 'Hestia!'  
Hestia jogged over to him. 'Oh, that doesn't look good. Apollo?'  
The god of medicine was already standing next to them. 'Hermes! What did you do?!' he yelled. Hermes shrugged. 'Cut myself cutting.' Apollo laid his hand on Hermes' wound. It quickly begun to heal.  
When the wound was completely closed and invisible, Apollo took a deep breath. 'Bro...' Hermes nodded. 'I know, bro, but it's fine now.' Apollo nodded, kissed Hermes' hand and walked back to his table. Hestia didn't comment on it. She blinked a couple of times, before walking around to see if anyone else needed help cutting their potatoes (Because everyone went on with doing what they were doing as soon as they realised nobody was dying).  
After five more minutes, the only person still peeling potatoes was, once again, Zeus. The other Olympians had started to play with the food at that point. Hestia realised she needed to go on. She closed her eyes, snapped her fingers and made eleven pieces of minced meat appear on eleven of the Olympians' isles.  
'Here. Grab an egg and some herbs, they are laying on the side, and knead them through the minced meat. After that, you first put water into the pans with carrots and potatoes. You also add salt to both. Then, you put butter into the saucepan. While the butter gets hot, you roll the minced meat into balls, which you put into the butter once it is hot.  
The Olympians started kneading their balls. Within seconds of sliding her hands into the minced meat, Aphrodite screamed, and so did Apollo. 'Ew!' Aphrodite jumped back. 'Gross!'  
'Why is it so cold!?' Apollo complained. Hestia calmly walked over to their isles (I swear, any other god would have lost all of their cool at this point. I know it is her character, but how does she keep this calm?). 'Aphrodite, Apollo, darlings, what seems to be the issue?'  
'It is so... cold! It freezes my hands! Aren't meatballs supposed to be warm?!' Apollo shouted.  
'Of course, after you've cooked them. This meat comes right out of the freezer, otherwise it would be unhealthy to eat!' Apollo slowly nodded.  
'Alright...' he whispered. Hestia turned her attention to Aphrodite, so that she did not see Apollo turning the sun on his slab of meat at such an angle that it got hot and less painful to knead. He grinned and started kneading the hotter, salmonella-filled ball of meat (He knew about the bacteria. He would magic them out later on, or something).  
Aphrodite stared at Hestia. Then back at her minced meat. She lowered her shoulders, before snapping her fingers. A pair of stylish looking plastic gloves appeared around her hands. 'Nothing wrong!' She hastily said, while grinning in Hestia's direction. The goddess chuckled and walked around the pavilion again.  
Artemis was slowly kneading the meat. She didn't have the energy to knead it the correct way. She glanced over at Dionysus, who was standing next to her. She realised he did not look much better. His skin was pale and he had huge bags under his eyes.  
'Did you even sleep last night?'  
He shook his head. 'Some brat of Ares had a problem with a harpy half way through the night. He tried to sneak into the woods for 'Extra monster hunting training in the dark,' as he put it. It cost us half of the night to find him, bring him back, calm down the harpies, calm down everyone who had been woken up, and walk back to the Big House. At that point, I was too hyper to sleep anymore.' Artemis slowly nodded.  
'I fell asleep around five O'clock and had one and a half hours of sleep. One of my girls was home sick and wouldn't stop crying. I spent the whole first half of the night caring about her and the other two that were suddenly missing their family, who she infected with it. Now I can barely hold up this spoon.' She yawned. Dionysus closed his eyes for a moment.  
'...Well, what Hestia wants, right? And she... is so happy.' They both looked at Hestia, who was laughing at a joke Demeter had made. The goddess of agriculture, who was Always early awake, was in a great mood. Cooking was one of her specialties. Artemis and Dionysus both groaned. Yes, they could both do basic cooking, Artemis because of her hunters and Dionysus because he had learned as a demigod and never forgotten how to do it, but when they could hardly keep their eyes open it was no easy feet.  
Hestia grinned at her younger sister once again, before walking to the counter of her youngest sister. Hera didn't look very happy with her work, but she was doing it anyway. She grinned at Hestia when the goddess looked at her work.  
'It is not that difficult...'  
'You like baking better than cooking full meals, is that assumption right?' Hera nodded and shrugged.  
'Why are we making dinner foods when it is eight O'clock in the morning anyway?'  
'Because I checked the schedules. This was a time when we were all available, and this is the most basic cooking there is, so I want to teach this first. We can safe the food for tonight with magic,' Hestia answered. Hera put her meatballs into the pan.  
'Reasonable, but...'  
'Yes, we'll try brownies in a few minutes.' The queen of the heavens slid her hair behind her ear. 'Thanks, Sister. It is really appreciated.'  
This time, Hestia waited for Zeus. 'Alright, know we wait until everything is ready. The carrots and meat will be done earlier than the potatoes, because we have to bake the potatoes as well. The carrots and meat will disappear - don't worry, it will reappear when it is dinner time!' Everyone muttered yes and nodded - except for Artemis and Dionysus, who hardly understood what she said.  
Hestia noticed that as well. She walked to the back of the kitchen. 'Is everything alright?' Artemis slowly blinked. 'Tired.'  
'...Kids were being crazy last night,' Dionysus answered. Hestia looked at her niece and nephew. Then at their pans. 'The food looks alright, though,' She answered.  
'Yeah, the girls need to eat and often don't know how to cook, or are tired, it is important to food them...'  
'It's easy to cook for yourself out in the wild...' Hestia took a deep breath.  
She snapped her fingers. Two cups off what seemed like tea appeared on the isles. 'Drink up. It will energize you. Don't tell Zeus.' She stared at them until they had both drank up the whole cup. 'Alright, go on with the rest of the meal.' She walked off.  
'Dio, she's doing your job.'  
'I am aware of that and I don't really care.'  
'You cared when Apollo tried to become the god of theatre.'  
Dionysus' expression hardend. 'I don't care in this specific situation.'  
Hestia knew that Artemis and Dionysus would stay energized for quite a while. She usually kept the drink on hand in case she ran into demigods in desperate need of an energy boost, but it also worked on gods.  
She walked past Zeus' isle. Apparently, he had found something that he liked. He was kneading the minced meat like a kneedmachine. Hestia didn't know how to feel about that, so she just let it be.  
After everyone was done with their basic dinner, she told them to put some salt and oil on their potatoes, so they could be put into the oven. While the potatoes were baking and spreading a pleasant smell, ingredients for brownies appeared on everyone's' isle.  
'Alright - brownies are slightly more difficult. Yet, I have weighed all the ingredients, so that is something you all won't have to worry about...'  
'Oh. So we needed... all of the chocolate?' Hermes asked from the back. Hestia looked over. 'Oh, eh, I'll get some more. I see that you already ate... about half of it.' She shook her head and snapped her fingers again. 'Here's some more! Now...'  
'I ate mine too.'  
Hestia didn't respond to Poseidon. She just clapped in her hands, so that everyone had a double portion of chocolate needed on their isles. 'Here.'  
She gave instructions and within five seconds the entire room was layered with chocolate, flower and eggs. You couldn't set a single step anywhere without your feet sticking to the ground. A few of Hestia's live brooms and dusters were busy, but even for them it was difficult to keep up the speed at which the Olympians produced trash.  
Yet, Artemis and Dionysus were doing really well. So well, that when Hestia came by to check, she stopped for a moment. 'Is... everything alright?' She asked Artemis, who was mixing batter like her life depended on it.  
'Why? I am making the brownies!' She answered, while pouring the sticky chocolate goup into a baking form. Hestia slowly nodded. 'I guess.' She turned to Dionysus and saw that his situation wasn't much better.  
'Aunt, you gave us to much caffeine-ambrosia. Plus, you really shouldn't be mixing that stuff with pure glucose and nectar.'  
'In tiny portions, it works on demigods...'  
'Yes, but because we eat mostly ambrosia and nectar on a day to day bases, it messes up the formula.'  
'... well, lot of success with the rest of the brownies! And no adding ingredients!' She quickly walked away before her nephew could really start telling her everything that was mixed wrong in her energy drink.  
'Argh!' Hestia turned her head towards the sound like a moth to a flame. She noticed that Ares was looking at Hephaestus in a way that didn't promise anything good.  
'Nephews! What's wrong?' The other gods turned their heads towards Hephaestus and Ares' direction and immediately wondered who put them next to each other, because that was never a good idea, no matter the circumstance (even though that one time during a war, that wasn't so bad, that worked out fine).  
'His... his mutant mixer almost cut off my finger!' Ares screeched.  
'Mutant mixer?'  
'Just look at it!' Ares pointed at the mixer Hephaestus was using. The god of the forge had... edited it, so that it could mix four times as fast.  
Hestia couldn't really describe the thing without sounding inappropriate, but it looked like it could mix the brownie goup within 5 seconds or less. Hestia swallowed. 'Eh... Heph, maybe you should put that away. You could be dangerous. Ares, you can stand with...' she quickly scanned the room. 'Poseidon?'  
'No way!' The god of the ocean screamed. While he turned around to tell Ares to back off, he let go of his mixer; but he didn't turn it off. It dropped into the mix bowl, which made it drop onto the floor and start spastically jumping around.  
Poseidon screeched (high-pitched) and ran away from his kitchen isle. 'What do I do?!' In his panic to get away, he bumped into Demeter and Hera, who both gasped. Hers dropped her mixer as well, demeter tripped over her oven and cut open her ankle.  
'Poseidon!'  
'I can't...'  
'Apollo! Your oven is on fire!'  
Apollo, who had walked over to his aunts and uncle to check on them, turned around like he was being stung.  
Artemis jumped over her kitchen counter. 'Someone throw me the fire extinguisher!' Hermes came running up to her with the fire extinguisher. Artemis thought he would just hand it to her, but in the last moment he threw it anyway, so that it dropped to the floor and exploded right then and there.  
The fire in the oven went out, but the foam was everywhere. Artemis tried to slip to her feet. Hermes and Dionysus tried to help her, which only made them slip as well. While they were all trying to scramble to their feet, the other Olympians swiftly evacuated the tent, outside, into Demeter's' garden.  
Hestia took a deep breath. She snapped her fingers. The whole tent was cleaned up at once. The ovens and counters were emptied. The goddess sighed while her nephews and niece walked past her. Artemis stopped walking (because she walked in the front, she forced her brothers to stop walking as well).  
She patted Hestia on the shoulder. 'Thanks for the training, Aunt.' Hestia turned to her.  
'You didn't even need it, though.'  
'Still thanks.'  
'Yeah, same.'  
'Uh-huh,' Dionysus and Hermes chimed in.   
Hestia smiled at them. 'You're very welcome. Now go back to your daily goings on. I know everyone was busy.' The goddess snapped her fingers and they all disappeared.  
Hestia looked through her tent. Her lip quivered a little. Well, better luck next time, she thought.


	135. A Christmas Story (Because The Writer Couldn't Think Of A Name)

It seemed like just a regular Christmas morning. The lights were shimmering, their was a thin, fresh layer of snow on the grass, every year-round camper was sitting in the dinner pavilion, anxiously waiting for Chiron (who would always give every year-round kid a small present) and Dionysus was miserably hanging around his room wondering why something like this had to be planned on his birthday. The full on magical atmosphere.   
Luckily, the campers didn't need to wait for long. Chiron walked into the dinner pavilion, with a basket filled to the brim with presents. He heard cheers from all around the pavilion and smiled; even the older kids couldn't contain their excitement. He looked around the pavilion. 'Merry Christmas! How is breakfast today?'  
'It's great, Chiron!' Piper answered (Her father had to attend a dinner party that Piper went to once and swore to never go again, so she and the very understanding Jason had decided to stay in camp during the holiday season). Chiron raised his eyebrows. He noticed that Piper was sitting next to Jason, at the Zeus table, smiling at her boyfriend with glee in her eyes. Chiron wondered whether she had always been forced to celebrate Christmas without her father. She seemed estatic.   
'Well, without further ado, let's begin on the presents!' A wave of delighted whispering erupted from the campers. Chiron chuckled. He Always got happy from seeing his campers so bubbly. 'As per usual, the youngest goes first. Jeremy?' Jeremy's eyes got big. He tugged on his sibling Rivers' sleeve. River smiled at Jeremy, grabbed his hand and walked to the front with him.   
Chiron handed Jeremy his present. It was way too big for the six year old too carry, so River held it for him. Chiron immediately put their present on top of Jeremy's, so that they could just focus on helping Jeremy with unwrapping his present without having to walk to the front as well. Together, they walked back to the Athena table. Malcolm and the other girl sitting there made some room for them (Which isn't really necessary, considering they were with four at a table where twentyish people could sit). As soon as he was put back on the chair, Jeremy started to tear the paper of his present. He cheered when he saw exactly what he wanted; a weaving set.   
The next person to receive his present was Harley, who skipped up to the front all on his own. He got a smaller box, which he handled so carefully that everyone at the Hephaestus table could be sure of one thing: he knew what was in there, probably because he nagged Chiron about it for half a year. So definitely the three hundred purpose tool his dad invented.   
Chiron went on with calling people to the front and handing them presents. When he reached 'Jason Grace,' he grinned. Pipers' eyes were glinstering. She had picked out the present for Jason. Chiron grinned at Piper when he gave him the box. 'Here, Jason...'  
'Chiron! So great to see you!' Chiron froze on the spot when he randomly heard THE voice. His grip on the box strengthened. He and the campers turned around to see a man with long brown hair and a white toga standing by the entrance of the pavilion.   
Chiron blinked and shook his head. He swallowed before responding. 'Oh, eh... Well, hello, Jesus. Eh... happy birthday!' Jesus, because apparently it was him, smiled.   
'Thanks, Chiron!'   
Jason realised that his mouth hung open. Even though he knew that there were multiple pantheons of gods, he had always sort of assumed that Jesus didn't exist. Yet, well, no time like the present to be proven wrong. Chiron walked over to Jesus, with Jasons' present still in his hands. 'What, eh... what are you doing here?'  
Piper sighed deeply and walked to Jason's side. 'Man, Why didn't he...'  
'It doesn't matter, Piper. It probably was just a t-shirt with Pikachu on it anyway, knowing Chiron.' Pipers' lips quivered a little. She swiftly shook her head.   
'I picked it out for you. It is...'  
'And who are all these children? Oh, wait, of course, you're relatives'. What were you all doing?' Jesus cheerfully contiued.   
'We were... celebrating Christmas. The small children like the excitement and the lights, and the presents of course, we might have a tree set up somewhere...'  
'I Always thought the tree was more Odin's influence,' Jesus said. He sounded very jolly. 'I am not sure anymore. I went to his hotel. There was a brawl going on. Not a single tree in sight. When I stepped into Odin's office, he immediately kicked me out. I believe I saw santaclaus in there too. Yet, I couldn't stay, I guess...'   
'So... you thought you'd come here?'  
'Yeah! Nice, right?' Chiron slowly nodded with a weird smile the campers hadn't seen yet. Maybe, just maybe, Chiron didn't find it as nice to have a god from another religion right there.   
'...Yeah. You can sit at the head table, I suppose.' Jesus smiled widely and skipped to the head table. Piper covered her grin with a hand. 'Alright then,' she whispered to Jason, who was still staring at Chiron (and the box he was holding).   
Chiron tried to put on his happy face again, but he was clearly distracted by Jesus sitting at the head table. Most of the campers (Except for the really young ones) also seemed to be a little uncomfortable.   
'So, eh, Jason!' Jason got up again. He felt that he was blushing a little. Chiron pushed the box with blue wrapping paper into Jasons' hands. Jason thanked him before walking back to the table were Piper was sitting, while Chiron called the next name. He saw that she had gotten all of her spark back as soon as he had received the box. 'Look what it is, look what it is!' She whispered to him.  
Jason laughed. 'Yeah, Yeah.' he begun tearing open the wrapping paper... Well, tearing, it was more neatly peeling it off (Because yes, Jason was one of those people who always wanted to safe the wrapping paper). Piper was getting more and more excited by the second.   
'Jason...'   
'Piper, the wrapping is so pretty! Look at it! It is blue and glittery...'  
'The present is nicer!'  
'Probably, but I love the paper too...' Piper sighed. She made a mental note to wrap the next present she bought him in an old newspaper.   
Jason was just about to pull the present out of the wrapper when Dionysus randomly decided to show up, with which I mean that he teleported straight into the middle of the pavilion. 'What's he doing here?' He asked, while pointing at Jesus. He sounded like he just woke up, and his bedhead reflected that.   
'Hey Dio! Happy birthday! I just thought I'd come by!'  
'Why?'  
'It is my birthday too! Why not?'   
Dionysus didn't answer. Instead, he just walked towards the head table and sat down next to him, while looking at Jesus like he expected him to explode into Christmas glitter.   
At this point, Piper was almost exploding into Christmas glitter herself. 'Jason, just open the Box!' She whispered, just a little too loud. Chiron was too focused on the list of the presents and the two divinities behind him to actually listen, but said divinities did hear him.   
Dionysus turned towards them. 'Miss Mclean, is there something you want to tell us?' Piper gave him a look that is really not smart to give to a god, because they might smite you. 'No. But Jason just needs to open the box. Right now.' She turned back to Jason, who decided that he had to pull out the present right then and there, because otherwise Piper might explode.   
Yet, then Jesus stood up. 'Patience, girl. Come on, take a deep breath.' Piper blinked. Jason thought that she would really explode now, but surely enough, she breathed along with Jesus. Jason Raised his eyebrows. He looked at Chiron.   
'It is his aura. Don't worry about it,' Chiron mouthed. Jason blinked and looked at Piper, who looked like she was fully calmed down. Jesus patted her on the shoulder, before walking back to the head table. Dionysus rolled his eyes. 'Show-off,' Jason thought he heard him whisper. Jesus just grinned at him.   
Chiron swallowed and muttered another name. 'Olivia Julius.' Jason still sat there, with the box in his hands. After Olivia, Chiron swallowed. 'Piper Mclean.'   
Piper very calmly stood up, and just as calmly walked to the front. Jason looked at the head table. He saw that Dionysus was one hundred percent done at this point, but he was still sitting there. Jesus looked like he had finally found a teenager who understood it.   
Piper got the bag with her present out of Chiron's hands. 'Thanks, Chiron.'   
'... You're Welcome, Piper.' Piper smiled and walked back to Jason's table. She put the bag on the table. Jason softly put his hand under her chin and looked in her eyes. He took a relieved breath. She still had a very excited twinkle in her eyes.   
Suddenly, Jesus stood up. 'Well, It's time to go! I have to go say merry Christmas to Amos in Brooklyn!' He snapped his fingers and disappeared.   
Dionysus stood up and walked to Chiron. 'I am going back to the Big House,' He said. Chiron gave him a look that was difficult to place. He gave a quick nod, before Dionysus disappeared and he went on. 'Alright, please don't take notice of that. You all known the gods can be... excentric. Ehm, Pietro....'  
Piper blinked. She looked at the box in Jason's' hands. 'You still haven't...' Jason grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. 'Let's leave the pavilion. Maybe Dionysus and Jesus will come back.'  
He lead her towards the Lake. He pulled the present out of the box. He laughed. 'Oh Piper, it is great.' Piper clapped in her hands.   
'I know, right?'  
Jason stared at the sweater in his hands. It was black, with a pocket on the place where the heart would be. There was a small, cute Rotom coming out of it. 'It isn't Pikachu...' He happily muttered. Piper put her head on his shoulder. 'I know.'   
'Now open your present!' Jason said. Piper laughed.  
'You picked my present, didn't you?' Jason nodded.  
Piper was a lot less slow with ripping the paper off and pulling her present out of the bag. She started laughing when she saw it.   
Jason had also bought a sweater for her. It was in his size (Pipers' inner Aphrodite shined whenever she stole her boyfriends' sweaters. She liked drowning in the fabric) and had a reindeer on it. 'Why a reindeer?'  
'Because you feel really christmassy, apparently. I, eh, talked with your mother. It changes images while your mood changes.' Piper hugged the sweater to her chest. After a few seconds, she pulled Jason and his sweater into the hug as well.   
'I love you, Jason.'  
'Love you too, Pipes.'


	136. When The Nightmare Catches Up To You

I more or less wrote this because I wanted to have a reason why Demigods in the series don't seem to really struggle with PTSD or anything of the like. I mean, probably because Riordan forgot, but who cares. Now they do, kinda.   
Jason looked around the space he was in. It was dark, but somewhere far back he heard wolves cry. 'Lupa?' Two blue eyes lit up in the dark. Jason felt a wave of relief wash through his body. 'Lupa! I...' The wolf bit him in the hand. Jason screamed. All around him, he heard hollow laughter. He began to run. A spear slid through his body. He cried out and stumbled to his knees. He felt a thick stream running down his body. The world got blurry and dark, his feet started to hurt, until...  
He jolted upright. Jason gasped. He looked around. He saw the little nightlight in the form of a penguin shine brightly. He took a deep breath. He clutched his sides - it was cold in the Zeus cabin. He felt that his ankles were cramping. He jumped out of bed and slowly moved his feet around, until the pain was gone. He fell onto the floor.  
He shivered again. He didn't fully remember what the dream was about, but he did remember being stabbed with a spear all over again. He shook his head and stepped back into bed. He huddled under the blankets and closed his eyes. He slowly drifted off to sleep.  
When he regained consciousness, he couldn't move. He opened his eyes, trying to move around his limbs and head. Yet, he couldn't. It was still dark, but he had no idea how late it was. He blinked. The next moment, Commodus was sitting by his bedside. The emperor grinned. Jason wanted to scream, but he couldn't. His mouth was sealed.  
He tried to move his limbs with all his might. He felt fear rising up in his chest. Yet, he started to realise that he was in a sleep paralysis. He slowly moved his tongue around and tried to move his arms, which luckily caused him to wake up.   
He stared at the ceiling. He felt really tired, but knew that if he closed his eyes the nightmares would just come back. Slowly, he sat up, so that he got black spots in front of his eyes. He stood up and blindly tried to find his slippers. He almost knocked his head against his nightstand. He sighed and blindly reached for his glasses (Which lay in front of his nightlight, so he could find them easily. That was the one thing he actually thought about). He put them on and reached for the nightlight.  
With the nightlight in his hand, he found his slippers. Jason slammed his nightlight back on the nightstand and scrambled to his feet. He walked past the statue of Zeus in the middle of his cabin. It made him even more uncomfortable than it usually did.   
He stepped out of the cabin. Within seconds, his slippers were soggy. Alright, so it is past 3 A.M., Jason thought (Some kid had figured out that Dionysus let the rain pass the weather shield between 11 P.M. and 2 A.M., so that the grass and the strawberries wouldn't die). Jason walked past the other cabins. He knocked on the door of the Poseidon cabin, but no-one opened. 'Percy?' No-one answered. Jason decided to not wake him up, yet. He walked further. He stared at the door of the Aphrodite cabin for a second, but decided that all of the gossip that would go around wasn't worth it.   
He realised he was walking towards the Big House. On his way, one of the kittens padded over to him and started twirling around his legs. Jason kneeled down. He gave it a pet before deciding to just pick it up and bring it along.   
He knocked on the door of the Big House. Something inside fell to the floor, which caused Jason to scream and take a jump back. The cat meowed and clawed him in the arm. Jason softly put it to the floor. 'Auw, sorry pika, ouch...' His arm started to bleed. The cat padded away again.   
Nobody came to open the door, so he tried to push it open instead. It wasn't locked, so he could walk inside. Slowly he walked into the main room of the Big House.  
It was completely dark. Seymour the panther head was asleep. The grapevines looked especially creepy in the dark. Jason swallowed and put off his soggy slippers. He saw the two staircases, one of them leading to the strawberry jam containment cellar, the other one to the place where the camp counselors lived. Jason shivered again. He wondered why it was so cold.   
In the dark, he didn't notice it when he walked into a chair and knocked it over. It made a loud crash at the volume that only stuff that falls over at night can make. Jason yelped, before tripping over the chair he had just knocked over.   
Chiron heard a loud crash downstairs. He groaned and got up. 'Dionysus? Argus?' he yelled, while stepping into the hallway. Behind him, he heard two doors open. 'Hm. So it isn't one of you, then.'  
'You heard that crash as well?'  
'Of course I did. Harley has probably had another nightmare again. You two can wait here, I'll take care of it.' He heard Argus and Dionysus' doors slam shut again, while he walked through the living room and down the stairs.   
'Hello? Who's there?' Chiron asked, while turning on the light. Jason scrambled to his feet. His forehead hurt and he saw that he had bruises on his arms, feet and probably also his legs (But he couldn't exactly see that through his pyjama pants). 'Chiron! Eh, I eh...' Jason shrugged. Now that he stood in the Big House and had alarmed someone, he had no idea what to say.   
Chiron hadn't expected to see Jason, but it didn't really matter to him. 'Hello, Jason. Is there a problem?'  
'I guess...'  
'Do you want a cup of tea?' Jason thought about that for a second, before nodding. Chiron turned around to switch on the button of the water cooker, but at that moment three cups of tea already appeared on the table. Chiron snickered. 'Alright then. Get the alcohol out of your own cup, though.' He heard Dionysus sigh on the stairs.   
'You know me too well, Chiron.'  
Jason pulled one of the cups towards him. 'Thanks,' he whispered in Dionysus' direction. The god just nodded, before walking to the back rooms of the Big House. He left the door open.  
Chiron turned his attention to Jason. 'Now, Jason, what is the issue?'  
Jason took a sip of tea. It was his favorite; Melon tea. He decided that it was probably somehow Dionysus' magic. 'I had a nightmare. About, uh... getting stabbed, you know, because...' His voice trailed off. Jason knew he was rambling, but he didn't really know how to explain it. Yet, Chiron seemed to understand (Which, I mean, logical. He literally has been helping Demigods with all kinds of problems for eons).  
'Did you have a nightmare where you got stabbed again?'  
'Yeah, that too.'  
'Too?'  
'Yeah, I also had a sleep paralysis dream where the emperor sat at my bedside. I woke myself up from that one.' Jason clutched his cup of tea. 'I don't know what to do about them. I don't have them every night, but they are there often...'  
'Jason, are you afraid of going back to sleep?' Jason stared at his cup.  
'...Yes. Sometimes. Because I might see him again.' He felt a tear rolling down his cheek. He wiped it away. Chiron saw that Jason's hands were shaking. 'You can cry, you know.' Jason didn't need more encouragement. He burst into tears, right then and there.  
Chiron moved to Jason's side of the table. He put an arm around Jason's shoulder. Jason didn't push him away. He kept crying for a few more minutes, until he slowly started shivering and stopped crying. 'Take a deep breath.' he did. Jason picked up his cup of tea again. In the background, Dionysus came walking back into the main room. He looked at Chiron and Jason.  
'What should I do?' Jason hiccupped.   
'Right now? Try to go back to sleep. You have been awake for quite some time - that will drive the nightmares away for tonight, at least. In the future? I would say go to the Hypnos cabin. They have a spell that drives away nightmares. And if the nightmares still don't go away and really makes you freak out, he might be able to help.' Chiron nodded in Dionysus' direction. Jason felt like he wasn't done yet. He was right. Chiron coughed. 'Jason?'  
'Yeah?'  
'You need to realise that I have seen a lot of demigods. Some of them went on a especially difficult quest, and... they would change. It took us a long time to figure out what it was.'  
'Yeah, PTSD took some time to get a light on.'  
'Because of the magic involved, this is slightly different from PTSD. I think, Jason, you might be affected. Not just because you died, but also because of your quest with the Argo II.'  
'Why me? The others never...'  
'The others have been in here too.'  
'Oh. Yet, um, I don't want to live like that...'  
'We have found something that can help. Not exactly a cure, but something that will at least drive the nightmares, flashbacks and hallucinations some people have away. Hypnos sometimes produces a sort of potion. One drop in a drink each day and it will stop. After about two-hundred days, you will be able to go without for the rest of your life. Yet, I don't exactly have a stash of that. So, I'll have to ask Hypnos, and...'  
'Wait, wait, wait. You all have found a magical cure for PTSD? And it might help?'  
'In a month, or so. Because, as I said, Hypnos needs to make it first.'  
'Chiron, That's great! Why isn't that just common knowledge in the camp?'  
'Because people that don't have the PTSD-esque symptoms have been found to get addicted to the stuff... quite easily. Now, as I said before, you need to get some rest.   
Jason nodded. 'Yeah, Chiron.' He drank his last sips of tea, before standing up.   
'Also, Jason, there is no shame in coming over here if you feel scared, alright?' Jason nodded again.   
'Yeah, yeah, I know.' Jason threw his arms around Chiron. 'Thanks, Chiron.'   
'No problem, Jason. You've been through a lot, it is not weird you feel like this. I'll send Hypnos a letter tomorrow.' Jason smiled, put down his tea cup and walked out of the Big House. Pika came running up to him. Jason picked him up. 'You were scared, weren't you?' he muttered to the cat, while walking back to his cabin.   
'Jason?' He heard someone behind him ask. He turned around and saw that Dionysus had followed him out of the Big House. The god got something out of his pocket. 'Here. Hypnos often takes his sweet time for making potions. This is a... less powerful formula of the same stuff, but you can only use it once every two days, and make sure you don't take more than a drop. It is very physically addictive, and if you get addicted Chiron and everyone on Olympus will blame me and that will not be nice. Also, the effect is less. Yet, it works good enough until you got the real deal.'   
Jason put Pika into one hand and took the small bottle. 'Eh, thanks. I thought you weren't allowed to...'  
'I can take it back if you don't want it.   
'No, no, I want it. Sorry,' Jason quickly said. 'And thank you.'  
'You're welcome, Grace.' the god sighed. 'I know the nightmares can be difficult. Yet, they'll disappear with some help, alright? And even without help, they will mostly fade away.'   
'...Mostly?' The god shifted.   
'Chiron told you to go back to sleep. Please do so.' Jason rolled his eyes, which he hoped Dionysus couldn't see in the dark.  
'Yes. Thank you, again,' he said, with a little nod. Dionysus closed his eyes for a moment, before walking back to the Big House.   
When he reached his cabin, with the bottle still in his hands (Pika had wiggled free at this point), he noticed the door was open. 'Hello?'  
'Jason! Where were you?'  
'Pipes? What are you doing in my cabin?' Jason stepped inside and saw that Piper was sitting on his bed. She shrugged. 'I had a nightmare and decided to come here.' She sighed. 'Oh, Jay, I saw you dying all over again... and it all was so horrible... and just...' Jason walked to his bed and put his glasses back on the nightstand. 'It's alright, Piper.' Jason sighed when he noticed he left his soggy slippers in the Big House. He put the bottle on his nightstand. He slipped into bed. Piper curled up in his arms. 'I just had a similar problem, but Chiron helped me. We can go to Chiron tomorrow and he can help you too, alright?'  
'Yeah. Chiron Always knows what to do,' piper whispered. She sounded like she was already asleep. When Jason looked at her, he realised that she actually already was asleep. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.


	137. Cooking In The Underworld

Nico clapped in his hands with a smug grin on his face. 'So Hestia tried this on Olympus...'  
'I think cooking on Olympus is more advanced than us just sneaking into the kitchen of your dads' palace because we want food,' Castor cut him off.  
'Shhh. We are going to make a masterpiece, Castor! I don't need your negativity!' Nico said, while flipping his hair (Which wasn't really possible, because it was too short, but it's the statement that mattered).  
Will rolled his eyes. 'I don't think we will be Gordon Ramsay in Persephone's kitchen, Nico.'  
'Well, maybe we can microwave a banana or two,' Lee said, sounding completely serious. Selena and Beckendorf both snickered. Will gave them all the stare of death. 'I'll keep my eyes on you all!' He said. He felt a pat on his shoulder.  
'It's alright, Will. Me and Silena will not let them microwave banan's.' Will nodded slowly.  
'That's a relief,' he answered, in a tone that signaled that he didn't really believe it.  
Nico pushed open the door to Persephone's kitchen. 'Why don't we just use our own kitchen? Or the kitchen in the Dionysus' kids palace?' Silena suddenly asked.  
'Because that would be less fun,' Nico answered. 'And also because Amelia kicked me out of the kitchen in the Dionysus' kids house.' Castor rolled his eyes.  
'You exploded our oven!'  
'So a usual day for you all.' He stepped into the kitchen. It was not that big - it was just a small kitchen for Persephone, not the big kitchen with the man who also cooked soup-goop for the ghosts in Asphodel, who were all dead but still had to eat once a week for some reason.  
Will looked around. 'Alright, so there is some fruit on the fridge, if we have yoghurt we can make popsicles with that...'  
'Yes, or we microwave it!' Castor cheered, seemingly only half-joking.  
'Castor, no microwaving food, please stop,' Silena sighed. Castor gave her a look that was anything but assuring.  
Beckendorf opened a small cupboard. 'We got some flour and sugar here, plus some other stuff I do not recognise...' Silena looked into the cupboard as well.  
'That over there is vanilla, I think.'  
The heard a crash behind them, followed by Lee screaming and ducking away. A lot of pans, pots and other stuff tumbled out of a high shelf. Lee shook his head. Will patted him on the back. 'It's alright, no one got hurt.'  
'Did Fred waddle into the kitchen?!' Someone yelled.  
'No, he was asleep on my pillow when we left and there is no way that one small, really fat hydra is faster than us,' Nico answered. None of them were bothered by the fact that they had been in a queens' kitchen for the whole of a minute and a half and that they had already made a mess.  
Castor rummaged through the pots, pans and other utensils. 'Hey! A muffin mold!' He pulled a hot pink silicone muffin mold from the pile. 'Say, do we have butter or milk or something?'  
Nico tried to open the fridge. 'Oof. Who makes the door to a fridge so heavy?'  
'Probably a queen goddess who has to deal with one to five teenagers in her house,' Will answered dryly. Nobody answered - they were to busy with raiding the kitchen to think about Persephone's wrath.  
Nico and Beckendorf pulled open the fridge. A ray of light fell from it like a beam of light from Apollo himself while the sight of mountains of food welcomed them. Everybody, even Will, had to take it in for some time. They never saw this much delicious food in the Underworld. Castor was the one who broke the silence. 'I see butter. If somebody can find baking soda, we can make fruit muffins. Which we can safely put into the...'  
'If we are going to say 'microwave,' I will immediately be against this plan. I am not going to make muffins only to stuff them into the microwave,' Silena broke him off, glaring at the son of Dionysus. Castor gave her a smug smile. '...oven,' he continued his sentence. Silena looked like she could put him into the oven.  
'Eh, muffins is a good idea, can anybody find a mixer and baking soda? We can use the vanilla as well...' Silena and castor huffed, but they started to look for the missing ingredients and utensils.  
After five minutes of seeking, they decided that there was no baking soda currently inside Persephone's kitchen. There was a mixer though, in a really obscure corner of a cupboard. Castor rolled his eyes. 'Wait right here,' he told the others, before sprinting out of the kitchen.  
He came back with three small bags of baking soda. 'I got it. Also, help me remember to get more baking soda before Amelia and oenopion find out there is no baking soda left. They might get angry and work together for once, which would be fighting. Everybody save for Will bobbed their heads up and down.  
'Is... is that so scary? They are children of Dionysus, after all...' He accidently made eye contact with Castor. 'Will, believe me, it is frightening. You don't want to know why.' Will swallowed. Castor made his way to the kitchen counter, where Silena, Beckendorf and Lee were already laying down the other stuff.  
Nico leaned closer to Will. 'Oenopion is a son of Ariadne. Basically three quarters god. Died somehow, is still powerful. Amelia... total powerhouse. Don't know why. So, yes, scary. Now, let's go make muffins before Castor shoves that orange over there into the microwave and calls it cuisine.  
'How do we do this? Just throw together all of the fruit and mix it through the basic recipe, so that we get a surprise muffin?'  
'Horrible idea, Lee. I say we smash up all of the fruit individually and mix it through specific muffins.'  
'Silena, that's boring...'  
'Cas, there is no way we are going to make alcohol out of it and put that into the muffins!'  
'No fun! We could give them to Hades and see what happens.'  
'Castor, we are not going to give my father muffins with alcohol in them!' Will sighed and clapped in his hands. 'Alright, we need a plan, otherwise this entire cooking operation will go like Hestia's cooking class on Olympus...'  
'How do you know what happened on Olympus?' Lee asked.  
'I needed to ask something to Chiron and Dionysus and I heard Dionysus rant about Hestia almost crying and Poseidon being a drama queen or something and Zeus not being able to do anything and being hyped on coffee with Artemis...' He rattled on for a while, but everyone had stopped listening after 'Hestia almost crying.'  
'...Those a..,' Nico begun. Will gave him a stern look. '...absolutely unpleasant... ducklings... almost made Hestia cry?' He enunciated. Will rolled his eyes and nodded.  
'Yes, but it got resolved...'  
Nico gave a single clap. 'We're mixing all of the fruits together for these muffins and then I'll bring them to the Olympians. I can film it. Let's go!' Everybody else cheered, except for Will, who just stood in the corner, wondering why oh why he just said that.  
He got the spirit, eventually. When it was time to mix all of the fruits together, he laughed maniacally when he turned around the hot pink mixer. Beckendorf and Silena were putting dough into the muffin mold. Only filling them one third, so that they could put in fruit and then more dough. 'We have to much dough!' Silena yelled over her shoulder.  
They heard someone rummage through the mountain of kitchen utensils behind them. 'Not anymore,' Castors' voice announced, while he pulled out four more muffin molds, so that they had enough for about fifty muffins. Silena grinned when she saw it. Beckendorf slowly shook his head, but he took the mold without complaining.  
Will made a little bit of a mess. Pieces of fruit stuck to him, Lee who had been standing next to him, the floors, walls, kitchen aisles, other utensils and Nico, who Will had given a hug after. Yet, still nobody really cared. In the back of their minds, they all knew they were going to have to speed clean after they had trashed the entire kitchen, but they decided to think it was all fine instead.  
'I found chocolate! If we have to little fruit, we can make some chocolate filled muffins for ourselves!' Lee announced. More cheering all around. Lee also pulled a bag of... something out of the closet. 'Ew, Lee, what in the world is that?' Silena asked.  
'Liver. Kind of great for the people who upset poor Hestia, don't you think?'  
'Lee! When you were alive you never had these malicious tendencies!' Will exclaimed.  
'That was before I had to live next to Batty Bob, who got aisles of the blessed through some absolute nonsense, and these are my friends,' He said, before waving around the room. Will sighed deeply.  
'Yeah, true. Oh, eh, Poseidon, Zeus and Ares were the one who upset her the most, I suppose, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Artemis and Aphrodite take a widely shared second place, and... the rest acted sort of normal. Oh, no, Apollo and Hermes too...'  
'We'll add liver to Poseidon, Zeus and Ares muffin and the rest will just get wildly mixed fruit. That will leave... a heck of a lot of muffins for ourselves to fill up with chocolate and whatever other tasty thing we find around here,' Silena answered. Will walked towards the muffin molds. He giggled.  
'Wait, Will! Add some yoghurt! It will make it sour!' Castor screeched. Will laughed and took the yoghurt from his hands. He mixed it through the fruit.  
'Well, I guess we are far beyond reason, if even Will gets swept up into the excitement,' Silena whispered to Beckendorf. The son of Hephaestus slowly nodded.  
Castor grinned evilly. He too realised that Will was becoming a little reckless. 'Say, Will, we could also make it grosser by putting it into the microwa...' immediately, Will was pulled out of it. 'Castor. No microwaving fruit.' Will pushed Silena and Beckendorf aside and started to put the yoghurt-fruit-liver goop into twelve of the muffins.  
Castor shrugged. 'Was worth a try. I'll just melt the chocolate...' Lee smacked his hands away.  
'No. You don't touch the hot things.' Lee grabbed two small pans. 'I will melt the chocolate. Au bain marie, not in the microwave.' Castor rolled his eyes.  
'Of course you don't put chocolate in the microwave, I am not that dense.' This clever answer was met with silence.  
The chocolate was slowly melting, while the twelve special (but not microwaved) muffins where baking in the oven. 'Ugh. Those things smell horrible. We might as well have microwaved fruit,' Nico casually said. Silena, Charles and Will all looked at him like they wanted to strangle him and accept the consequences.  
'I think... the chocolate might be melting too quickly,' Lee whispered. Within a nanosecond, everyone else was standing right behind him, trying to look into the pan. 'Guys! Stop!' Lee turned down the gas and picked up the pan. Slowly he started to drip the chocolate into the muffin dough cups.  
After that, Silena and Beckendorf covered them up with more dough. They both stared at the muffins, ready to be baked in the oven. They just had to wait for the other batch to be done. 'How long have the prank muffins still left?'  
Castor checked the clock.  
'Eh... forty minutes.'  
'What?' Silena gasped. 'That long?'  
'Yeah. I think we should put the unbaked dough into the fridge.'  
They did, before just dropping to the ground, wondering what to do.  
'We should clean up,' Will contemplated.  
'Yeah, we should,' Nico answered. The four ghosts nodded. 'Yeah, you two are right,' Silena sighed. She picked up a spoon and started flicking it around.  
Forty five minutes later, they were all still sitting on the floor. Nico had his head on Wills' chest. He was asleep. Somewhere on he other side of the room, Castor was asleep as well. Beckendorf was braiding Silena's hair. Lee was nowhere to be found.  
Yet, when the bell of the oven dinged, Nico jumped up (he almost punched Will in the stomach). He pulled open the oven door so fast it almost fell off. 'Carefull! Otherwise we can't bake the chocolate muffins!' Lee yelled. He seemingly dropped out of nowhere, but nobody really cared anyway.  
'Yeah, yeah.' Nico got out the muffins. 'Ugh. Let's just put this out in the hallway.' Silena took over the baking plate and put it out in the hallway, because nothing could go wrong that way, nooo.  
Silena twirled around and clapped her hands. 'Alright! Let's put the chocolate muffins into the stove!' She pulled open the fridge.  
Castor jumped in front her and got out the plate. 'Come, I'll put them in!' He was standing dangerously close to the microwave, made a move towards it that made Will want to jerk the plate with muffins out of his hands, and eventually put it into the oven.  
After which they had to wait another fifty minutes. Beckendorf continued with his masterpiece in Silena's hair, Nico fell asleep again (and Will as well this time), Castor got an old gameboy out of nowhere and Lee just stared into the oven, like that was going to make them bake quicker.  
Which, uh, worked. Somehow. Maybe it was the power he had from the isles of the blessed, or something. Yet, within twenty minutes, the oven started making noise. Lee pulled open the oven door with such strength that it really did fall off (but who cares? The muffins are already baked).  
He squealed. 'Ugh, they smell good.' He softly patted one with his finger. 'They feel... just right.' Silena, Beckendorf, Nico and Castor all picked one. Castor was the first one to take a bite. His eyes rolled back into his ghostly head. 'Hmmm.'  
'These are good...' Silena said, with a mouth full of muffin. The others didn't even say anything. They were too busy gorging on the muffins.  
Will was standing in the middle of the kitchen. His stomach rumbled. 'Eh... not to ruin your euphoria, but does anybody have a plastic box, or something?'  
Beckendorf heard him. While still chewing on a bit of muffin, he rummaged through the utensil pile. He got out a metal box. 'Here. It'll keep the muffins warm until you are back on earth.' Will smiled thankfully and put three muffins into the box.  
Five minutes later, almost all the muffins were gone. Just eaten up by five hungry teenagers who were bored. Nico stretched. 'Hm. Great. Now, let's get that batch in the hallway, so Will and I can leave and Will can taste one of these muffins as well.' Overdramatically, he threw open the door.  
He saw two things he didn't want to see. The first thing was his stepmother looking at him with a cold, dead stare. The second thing was Fred the small, fat Hydra eating up the special muffins.  
'Nico.'  
'...Persephone. What, eh...'  
'What are you and probably your little friends, which are very much vulnerable and not invincible, doing in my kitchen?' She asked, with a voice that was supposed to be harsh and dark, but sounded more like she thought it was hilarious.  
'We were making muffins...'  
'These?' She pointed at the batch that Fred had completely eaten. He seemed to like the taste. 'No. We made chocolate as well. This was meant for... some people... who...'  
'Who made Hestia cry!' Silena yelled behind him. Persephone's eyes twitched.  
'...they did what now?'  
'They...'  
'I heard it, I heard it.' She shook her head. 'Gods, they totally deserved... whatever the filing of those were.' She gestured towards the mold with only a few bits and pieces of muffin left. Her gaze hardened again.  
'Yet, that doesn't mean that all of you will clean up my kitchen. On your own. Without magic. Right now.'  
'Uh, Persephone...'  
'No talking back!'  
'But Will hasn't even for four hours or so...'  
'He should have thought about that before you all ravaged my kitchen. Now clean up.'  
It took them two hours to completely clean up the kitchen. By this point, Will was seeing spots in front of his eyes from hunger (partly because his body really needed food, partly because he had been thinking about food for so long that his body got hungrier and hungrier). Persephone told him and Nico to get back to earth, while the four ghosts desperately tried to get out of there. Nico and Will were gone before they knew if their friends had made it.  
The next day, Will knocked on Nico's door. He had an old handkerchief in his hands. 'In.' Will stepped into Nico's cabin, which looked like it needed to be cleaned again. 'Hey Neeks. Is everyone send to eternal punishment in Tartarus, or...' Nico looked at him like he was crazy, until he remembered what Will was talking about. He shook his head.  
'No, but their in service of Hades for a week, which means they basically have to run errands for him. Nothing they haven't done before.' Will took a deep breath.  
'Good. Otherwise eating this last muffin might feel to bad.' He got the last chocolate muffin out of the handkerchief and broke it in two. He gave half of it to Nico. 'Here.' Nico stared at the part of muffin, While Will took a bite out of his.  
Before Will could take another bite, Nico pulled him onto his couch and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. Will blushed a little and laid his head on Nico's shoulder. Nico took a bite of muffin. A smile grew on his face; it tasted like heaven, where it technically came from, of course.


	138. Flyin'

'Jason, do you think this is really nesecarry? I mean, if can wait for a week, right?' Jason looked Percy in the eye. 'Mister Jackson, you just heard you got accepted into university and your girlfriends' birthday is tomorrow and you kept hammering on about how you wanted to surprise her. You prayed to about every god ever for the last week. Also, this isn't even boarding, you are just checking in your suitcase!'   
'Sir, will you please put your suitcase on the conveyor belt, there is a line,' the girl behind the counter said with a smile that must have been so fake that Keeping Up With The Kardashians seemed real in comparison. Jason put Percy's suitcase on the belt for him, checked it in correctly and pulled Percy along, to the metal detector portals.  
Like the white boys that they were, Percy and Jason got through Airport security fairly quickly, which meant they had two hours to be nervous on the airport. 'You told me we had to be here by seven A.M. on the dot or we'd be late!'  
'I got in too late once!' Jason backfired. Percy rolled his eyes.  
'Too late? You? Sure.' Jason took a deep breath. 'Let's go get coffee, shall we?'   
The line to get coffee was long. Percy looked through the glass. 'Can I get a donut too? I didn't eat did morning.'  
'Were you that nervous?'  
'...no.'  
'I'll get you a sandwhich. It feeds you better.'  
Percy didn't compain while Jason ordered a black coffee, a sandwhich and a coffee with extra milk and sugar.   
'Here. Try to eat up. Otherwise you'll get queesy in the plane and it won't be nice.' Percy gave him a nod and started to unpack his sandwhich. Jason rolled his eyes and pulled him over to a bench on the side.   
Percy ate up the whole sandwhich in three minutes. 'Don't eat too quick!'  
'I can't help it! I am hungry and I have to step into a flying sardine tin soon! Do you really think that there is room to worry about how quick I eat!?'   
'Well, otherwise you'll feel even worse!'  
'Sure, mom.'  
Jason pouted. 'Come, let's go see what kind of things they sell around here.'   
They sold nothing special, just the usual designer stuff, alcohol and candy, plus some light reading material. Jason bought a magazine to keep himself entertained (like he was going to be bored with the five books and tablet that he brought along, plus he probably had to take care of a really nervous Percy). Percy's eyes glazed over all the stuff in front of him without seeing any of it.  
'What if my suitcase gets lost and I won't be able to give Annabeth her birthday present?'   
'Percy, stop asking paranoid questions, please, I don't know. We'll get to board the plane in ten minutes, you can focus on that.' As soon as he said it, Jason wished he hadn't. Percy turned really pale. 'I think I might be sick.'  
'The toilets are right over there!' Jason exclaimed, while jumping up.  
'As a figure of speech!'  
'No more of that kind of speech until we have reached the ground! What if something really happened?'   
'Sorry, Jay.'  
'Just calm down, alright?'  
'Yeah.'  
Finally, they were on the plane. Jason had hoped that Percy could have been at the aisle seat, but the gods weren't with him on that front. They had a window seat and a middle seat. Jason took a deep breath and decided that he would take the window seat, so that Percy had the middle. It was terrible, but probably better than having Percy be able to look out the window to see how high he could fall to his doom.  
Jason stared at the seat in front of him (which had a mother with a baby in it, haha, classic annoying situation) and prayed to the gods that no-one would take up the isle seat. But the gods didn't care about what Jason wanted and a strange, middle aged man with sunglasses, a purple overcoat and a weird hat in the same colour sat down in the isle seat.   
Percy tried to half hazardly greet the man, but he didn't react or even seemed to notice. Percy looked at Jason, who shrugged. It was either a regular weirdo or a god, so he had absolutely no reason to talk to him.   
The flight attendents started to explain the safery procedures. Jason tried to distract Percy by showing him pictures in his magazine, but it didn't really work. Percy couldn't really focus on it. Neither could he on the safety procedures, luckily (this once, ADHD came in handy).   
When the plane started riding, Percy clutched the arm rests of the chair. 'Oh no. I can't go back now.' Jason patted him on the arm.   
'Come on, it'll be fine. I am here, remember? Ze...'   
'Don't say his name!' Percy said way to loud, si that people around them turned to look (except for the strange man, who kept staring at the seat in front of him like he was going to do that the whole flight).   
'My dad won't strike us down while I am on the plane, Percy.'   
'Are we talking about the same person? And who says she who shall not be mentioned just takes over for one second?' Jason swallowed.   
'That won't happen,' he said, partly to themselves.  
Percy burried his face into Jasons' arm when the plane started to take speed in order to take off. 'This is it...' he muttered. Jason put an arm around his shoulder. 'Come on, sit up straight, otherwise the sudden change in pressure will hurt more.' Percy slowly sat up again, still holding on to Jasons' hand for dear life.   
When the seatbelt light went off, the man on the aisle seat immediately stood up to presumably go to the toilet (where else should he go?) and didn't return for twenty minutes. Jason cautiously picked up one of his books.  
'Did you bring anything for entertainment?' He asked Percy (and to distract yourself from thoughts of sudden death, he added internally). Percy nodded and got an ancient looking tablet out of his backpack.   
'... can that thing support anything?'  
'Some really old games that will give me just enough entertainment to not be bored. I have to think about out sudden plumet toward the earth while the lord smites us too, after all!' Jason looked he deep in the eye.   
'I am really not appreciating gallows humour right now, Percy.'  
'What?' Jason bit his lip. They should have just taken the train - who cares that it takes eight hours more than flying?   
'Don't worry about it. Try to relax, alright? Go to sleep, that might be good for you...'  
Percy tried going to sleep. Yet, just as he dozed of, the sketchy man came back. He didn't just sit down, no, he fell backwards into his chair, causing the baby to give a weep. Luckily, his mother managed to calm him down.  
On the second turn, the man decided to run off again. Percy inhaled deeply. 'Jason, I don't think this will work.' Jason accidently pulled the corner of his magazine. 'Well...'  
'Ladies and gentlemen! We will be walking by with our selecetion of food!' The purser said over the intercom.   
'Do you want anything?' Jason quickly asked his friend. Percy shrugged. Jason gave a small prayer to Hestia - thanks to food, he muttered.   
Jason got the menu card and showed it to Percy. 'It is around lunch time, we could both order a packet of sandwhiches... with something to drink...'   
'Lunchtime? Also, I have just eaten...'  
'Well, it always takes some time for the cart to reach you, seeing as how we are seated close to the middle of the plane...'  
'So we could drop out of the air before the cart even reaches us?'   
'Perseus Jackson...'  
'Sorry, sorry, Jason Grace... I mean, I wouldn't say I was joking, but...' Jason gritted his teeth and pointed at the menu.   
'Pick.'   
'Turkey sandwhiches with a coke, please.'  
'Good boy.'  
In the time it took the servers to reach them, the mysterious man had jumped up and sat down again three times. At this point, Jason had realised that the baby was not the worst annoyence on the plane (not at all, actually. The baby had fallen asleep and wasn't crying at all).   
He ordered their food. Just as Percy tried to take a sip of his coke, the fates decided that they just had to be funny and a wave of turbulance hit the plane. Percy screamed and would have dropped his coke if strange man hadn't quickly put out his hand to catch it. Percy blinked. Jason shook his head a little.   
'Thanks...' Percy muttered. Mysterious man didn't react.   
Percy swiftly put his cup down on the table in front of him. The turbulance got slightly worse. Percy grabbed Jasons' hand. Jason patted him on the shoulder. 'Shh, it's alright, I'm here...'  
'And that should stop him from striking us out of the sky or at least playing with me?'  
'Percy, if we evacuate, I promise to disregard the rules just this once and fly you out of the plane, no many how many mortals see us,' he whispered. Percy took a shaky breath - it seemed to calm him down a little. He closed his eyes.  
Jason looked around the plane for some time. When he made direct eye contact with weird neighbour, he immediately wished he hadn't. The man simply looked too invested in what Jason had just said. Jason quickly turned to take a bite of sandwhich. The man stroked a single hair, next to his hat.  
After a few minutes, Jason realised Percy had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He elected to let him sleep - less nervous talking and more rest was a good thing. Mystery man got up quieter this time - apparently even he had some common sense.   
Percy managed to sleep through the majority of the three hour flight. He woke up just as the plane started to loose height. He screamed again and clutched Jason's arm. Man in the aisle seat turned his eyes on him (he had tried to get up again, but a flight attendent had stopped him from doing so).   
'What are... whuh... are you falling!?'  
'No, but the flight has almost ended and the plane is getting ready to be on the ground again.' Percy loosened his grip on Jasons' arm, but he didn't let go.  
'Here's your sandwhich,' Jason said, while pushing Percy's sandwhich into his hands. Percy took a nervous bite.   
'How quickly do planes usually loose height?'  
'At the speed we are right now,' Jason answered. Percy nodded.  
'Yeah, yeah, that's logical,' Percy answered meekly.  
He screamed once more, when the plane hit the ground. While it was quickly losing speed, he hugged Jasons' arm and didn't stop until the plane was completely still.  
Mystery man was surprisingly swiftly gone. Just not on the plane anymore while everyone else was struggling with their suitcases. Percy and Jason, on the other hand, took their sweet time to get off and walk to the exit.   
'Jason?'  
'Yeah?'  
'We... survived. And so did the suitcases.' Percy smiled. 'Jason, we are still alive!' He cheered. Jason grinned. 'Yeah, we are. Oh, there's Annabeths father to pick us up!' He pointed at the car in the distance. Annabeths' father waved at them. Percy nodded and dragged his suitcase towards the car. He waved at Frederik and also Magnus, who was looking like a ghost in the back of the car.   
Arnaldo moved his hat a little, so that he could hold his phone to his ear. 'Boss, There is magic in this world, I repeat, there is magic in this world.' On the other side of the line, Arnaldo heard someone sigh over dramatically. 'Arnaldo, I might believe you once you come back with more proof then video footage of a paranoid kid on a flight and his friend.' He hung up. Arnaldo cursed out loud. Yet, he would prove the excitance of magic, no matter what it took.


	139. Ares loses his sword and who has to fix it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is that other Clarisse and Annabeth quest I promised!

Clarisse stepped of the boat. 'Alright, lets forget the motel, we have to run!' Annabeth pulled her back by her backpack. 'We need a plan first, Clarisse. The bus is right over there, let's go!'  
Days ago, Ares' special sword had been stolen. He had found it in the remains of the royal palace of Crete, but decided that he was too busy and told Chiron to send someone to Crete. Chiron, who had heard of Annabeth's and Clarisse's shenanigans and failure a few weeks ago, decided that they were absolutely the best people to go to Crete.  
Well, not really. He wanted to send over two other demigods, but both of them got sick - centaur blood in their clothes. Annabeth and Clarisse were the two people in the room when Dionysus had to point out two other people. That one day, he had received a exceptionally bad message from Zeus, so he absolutely didn't care who was in the room and had to go.  
'So what? We need to find that thing! Do you know how my dad acts?'  
'Yeah, yeah, but we can't exactly go to a huge palace to find a sword in a place we are probably prohibited from walking around in!'  
'Of course we can!'  
'No!' They stood in front of each other, like staring each other down would change the others mind.  
Four minutes later, the bus arrived and they both realised it wasn't going to happen. The only thing they could do was compromise: Annabeth would drop everything off at the motel and make a small plan while Clarisse would go straight to the knossos to see what she could do. Annabeth grumbled while looking out the window. The mission in France had been a disaster and she didn't see how this would be any better.  
She got more and more sure that she was right when she looked out the window and saw a pair of glowing eyes from the bus stop they were currently at. They disappeared, but a second later a weird looking woman stepped closer to the bus. She had the aura of a monster and had the weird monster thing where there is just something off, although you can't quite put your finger on it. The 'woman' got on the bus. Her expression soured a little when she saw that there was already someone sitting next to her (surprise surprise, it was Arnaldo, looking just as suspicious to Annabeth as he had to Jason and Percy).  
She kept looking at Annabeth throughout the whole ride to the motel. At that point, Annabeth was wondering how even a monster could think this was not incredibly suspicious to do. She got of the bus. The monster woman followed her, but Annabeth felt double weird when she realised Arnaldo got off as well.  
She checked into the motel and dropped off her stuff. From the hallway, she peeked into the main lobby. She saw that the monster was waiting in the lobby and Arnaldo was trying to get a room, even though the lady behind the front desk kept telling him that they were full.  
Annabeth threw her bag over her shoulder and got out of the motel. She had to get back on the bus, to go to the knossos. She decided that going to Clarisse was the best plan at the moment, to at least get rid of the monster and the weird man (Arnaldo had forgotten why he exactly wanted a room in the motel, but Annabeth couldn't know that).  
The monster was the only one who got on the bus with Annabeth. The daughter of Athena had to try hard to not roll her eyes, but she managed to do it. The monster was still noticing nothing, through some witchcraft.  
Clarisse kicked a stone into one of the empty bassins. 'Hey! Why'd you do it!?' The tenth ghost she saw that day screamed. Clarisse kicked another stone into the bassin as a response. She had no idea how she was able to see a ghost as a daughter of Ares, but she didn't really care either.  
'How many servants did Minos have?' She yelled to the next ghost she saw.  
'That we don't know, young lady. Now get out of there! You are standing a ledge you are not supposed to stand on!' A museum guard yelled at her. Clarisse grunted and jumped of the ledge. She quickly walked further.  
'Hey... ghost number twelve... did you see any swords lately?' She whispered to a ghost she saw hanging around miserably just outside the castle. The ghost screamed.  
'How can you see me? Are you a daughter of Hades?'  
'No, but...'  
'Pluto? Thanatos?'  
'No and no! Not important! Did you see a sword?' She noticed a woman in the back was staring at her. Which, you know, fair if some young person randomly starts screaming into thin air.  
'Yes, I did see an air spirit with a sword a little while ago... it looked like it didn't belong to him though... way to heavy, too fancy...'  
'Did you see a boar on the handle?'  
'That's oddly specific...' clarisse looked at the ghost like she wanted to smack him.  
'... but I think I did. Was it your sword, by any chance? Did you lose it? Could happen... I lost swords before, back when I still thought... although it looked too fancy for you as well... and aren't you a girl... hey, where are you?..'  
As soon as ghost #12 had confirmed that there had been a boar on the sword handle, she had stopped listening to his moaning and had ran away to the other side of the palace, where there was a lot more wind. She figured that would be the place wind spirits appeared in more often than the rest of the palace grounds. She stopped for a moment. She could almost smell the sea from this part of the palace. She sighed deeply.  
'Oh, the princess used to do that too!' Clarisse turned around and would have really hurt the poor ghost behind her if it hadn't been a ghost and therefore unhittable. Instead, her first went straight through nothing and she almost fell down. 'Who are you!?'  
'Hey! I guard this castle! I should ask you that!'  
Clarisse blinked. 'You're dead.'  
'Well, you can see me, right?'  
'No idea what's up with that. Have you seen a swords around?' The ghost shrugged.  
'Don't know, but I'll get more men over here!' He ran away, over the open ground, but it seemed like he thought he ran through a hallway. Clarisse rolled her eyes and almost hoped Nico was there to tell her what was going on.  
Annabeth arrived at the palace with the monster still following her closely. She begrudgingly paid for a ticket to visit the ruins and walked further. She looked over her shoulder when she realised the monster aura became less powerful. The 'woman' was standing behind the ticket desk, with a wallet in her hands, looking like she was having an inner crisis. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Something was up with that. Slowly, she stepped closer.  
'Chase! Finally! And, made up a plan?' She heard Clarisse scream.  
'Clarisse! No, to be honest. I was followed by whatever that is. Yet, she seems to not be willing to get further than where she is right now. Clarisse shrugged. 'Maybe she's afraid of the ghosts.'  
'Ghosts?'  
'Yeah, there are ghosts everywhere. No idea what's it about, but one told me a wind spirit was seen with a sword seemingly too fancy and powerful for him. He seemed very... confused, though, so no guarantee he was right.'  
'... how are you seeing ghosts?'  
'Hades knows.' Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'Seeing the subject matter, I sure hope so. Now, did you find anything else?'  
'Calm down, Chase.'  
'I'll do what I think I need to do.'  
'Oh, please...'  
'Can you girls be quiet? I need to focus!' Another ghost appeared behind them. Annabeth blinked. 'Is... that a spirit? I see and hear it very vague.'  
'Lucky you. If only they'd stop talking for a minute, that would be nice.' Clarisse answered.  
'Ladies! You're blocking the entrance!' Clarisse raised an eyebrow. Annabeth looked at the ghost.  
'What... do you think you are doing right now?'  
'I am standing guard! To protect girls like you two! What else? Are you blind?'  
'...standing guard at what? Wait, can you still see the castle?'  
'Of course! You two are standing in it! How stupid are you two!?' Clarisse and Annabeth looked at each other. 'Must be your father's sword,' Annabeth said slowly. 'Maybe it radiates energy... maybe that's why the ghosts are up and walking and the monster didn't want to get too close...' Clarisse swore in greek before pulling Annabeth along.  
'You are probably right, little Chase. Which means that we need to find that sword. Luckily, we know it is right here, because that is apparently where the power is the strongest.' Annabeth nodded as well as she could while being dragged over a field by someone fifteen centimetres taller than her.  
'Yeah. Do you know what side catches the most wind? That might be where a wind spirit would have dropped it...' Clarisse nodded, while staring off into the distance (She was staring at the fancy armour some of the dead guards wore, but Annabeth couldn't know that, she couldn't see ghost that were that far).  
It took some time to find the right corner, with the most wind, but with Clarisses' bandana as a flag they found it - the spot with the correct wind current, not the sword, because it wasn't there. Annabeth facepalmed and closed her eyes. 'You know, I am already feeling like giving up.'  
'Owlhead Chase?'  
'Hm?'  
'How about the spot with the sword is the spot with the most ghost warriors?' Annabeth opened her eyes again. She took a deep breath.  
'I know it is hard that I came up with something for once and not you.'  
'That's… Whatever. You can see the ghosts, you go find that place.' Clarisse smiled smugly, and Annabeth was too annoyed to do something about it.

'This should be the place.'  
'My god, even I can see how many ghosts there are.'  
'I know. What did Minos think was going to happen someday? Didn't he have that giant robot walking around the palace too?'  
'Yeah, Tanos, but apparently he decided footfolk was handy too. However, we need to find that sword.' She squinted her eyes. 'I see something red over there...'  
Clarisse sprinted over to the small thing she vaguely saw. A few ghosts tried (And failed dramatically) to stop her from getting any further. They seemed to be guarding what they saw as the greatest boon in the world, unaware of the fact that it was not even there any more.  
Clarisse put her hand on the sword hilt and pulled it out the sand. She lifted it above her head and grinned. She heard Annabeth sigh behind her. 'Dramaqueen.'  
'If I would have tried to pick it up in the normal way, it might not have respected me enough. This is a magical object.' Annabeth shrugged and slowly nodded.  
'Alright, seems fair. Now let's just get out of here and bring this to your dad. He'll probably show up as soon as he realises we have it.' Clarisse didn't answer, but held the sword in a respectful manner and begun to walk away from the archaeological side.  
'Gods, that nobody noticed that we were acting weird,' Clarisse sighed.  
'Mortals,' Annabeth whispered. Clarisse nodded.  
'Yeah… hey, what...' She looked around. The guards around here looked like they were hypnotised. By Ares' sword. Clarisse looked dumbfounded for a few seconds, until her smug grin got even more smug. 'Wait...'  
She pointed the sword at a random tree. Immediately, three ghost warriors ran towards it. Clarisse laughed out loud. 'Haha! Wow!'  
'How does your dad like it if you use his sword?'  
'Killjoy,' Clarisse answered, but she did stop.  
They got to the main gate - and the monster was still waiting behind the gate. Annabeth rolled her eyes. 'Oh gods. She's still there.' Clarisses' eyes lit up.  
'You're in luck today, Chase...' Annabeth squinted her eyes.  
'This once.' Clarisse grinned and pointed her sword at the monster. A few seconds later, the monster ran away, screeching and hissing. A few people looked around, but no-one really cared.  
Annabeth and Clarisse heard someone laugh behind her. 'Well done, daughter. Now hand over the sword, please.' The girls turned around, facing Ares. Annabeth gave the god of war a small nod, without breaking eye-contact. Clarisse bowed her head while giving over the sword. Ares grabbed the hilt. The sword went up in smoke. The war god followed shortly after, leaving a small package where he was standing.  
Clarisse picked it up. She opened it. There was nothing but a piece of paper inside. Annabeth raised her eyebrows. 'What does it say?' She asked.  
'beware of the purple guy… he is onto something.' Clarisse pulled a weird face.  
'Purple guy?'  
'Dionysus, or something?'  
'No, he would have used his name, right?'  
'Did you see anything purple today?'  
'Well, when I was on the bus there was some weirdo sitting next to me, in purple… he tried to check into our hotel, now that I think about it...' Annabeth bit her finger. 'There might be something strange going on.'


	140. Flyin'

'Jason, do you think this is really necessary? I start to regret this… I mean, it can wait for another week, right?' Jason looked Percy in the eye.   
'Mister Jackson, you just heard you got accepted into university and your girlfriend's birthday is tomorrow, both of which you want to celebrate with her. You were hammering on about it for three weeks. You prayed to about every god ever for the last week. Also, this isn't even boarding, you are just checking in your suitcase!'  
'Sir, will you please put your suitcase on the conveyor belt, there is a line,' the girl behind the counter said with a smile that was so fake that Keeping Up With The Kardashians seemed real in comparison. Jason put Percy's suitcase on the belt for him, checked it in properly and pulled Percy along, to airport security.  
Like the white boys that they were, Percy and Jason got through Airport security fairly quickly, which meant they had two hours to be nervous on the airport. 'You told me we had to be here by seven A.M. on the dot or we'd be late!' Percy complained.   
'I got in too late once!' Jason backfired. Percy rolled his eyes.  
'Too late? You? Sure.' Jason took a deep breath.  
'Let's go get coffee, shall we?'  
The line to get coffee was long. Percy looked through the glass display case. 'Can I get a donut too? I didn't eat this morning.'  
'Were you that nervous?'  
'...no.'  
'I'll get you a sandwich. That has more nutritional value.'  
Percy didn't complain while Jason ordered a black coffee, a sandwich and a coffee with extra milk and sugar.  
'Here. Try to eat up. Otherwise you'll get queasy on the plane and it won't be nice.' Percy gave him a nod and started to unpack his sandwich. Jason rolled his eyes and pulled him over to a bench on the side.  
Percy ate up the whole sandwich in three minutes. 'Don't eat too quick!'   
'I can't help it! I am hungry and I have to step into a flying sardine tin soon! Do you really think that there is time to worry about how quick I eat!?'  
'Well, otherwise you'll feel even worse!'  
'Sure, mom.'  
Jason pouted. 'Come, let's go see what kind of things they sell around here.'  
They sold nothing special, just the usual designer clothes, alcohol, candy and light reading material. Jason bought a magazine to keep himself entertained (like he was going to be bored with the five books and tablet that he brought along, plus he probably had to take care of a really nervous Percy). Percy's eyes glazed over all the stuff in front of him without seeing any of it.  
'What if my suitcase gets lost and I won't be able to give Annabeth her birthday present?'  
'Percy, stop asking paranoid questions, please, I don't know. We'll get to board the plane in ten minutes, you can focus on that.' As soon as he said it, Jason wished he hadn't. Percy turned really pale. 'I think I might be sick.'  
'The toilets are right over there!' Jason exclaimed, while jumping up.  
'As a figure of speech!'  
'No more of that kind of speech until we have reached the ground of California! What if something really happened?'  
'Sorry, Jay.'  
'Just calm down, alright?'  
'Yeah.' Yet, of course he didn't.  
Finally, they were on the plane. Jason had hoped that Percy could have the aisle seat, but the gods weren't with him on that front. They had a window seat and a middle seat. Jason took a deep breath and decided that he would take the window seat, so that Percy had the middle. It was terrible, but probably better than having Percy be able to look out the window to see how high he could fall to his doom.  
Jason stared at the seat in front of him (which had a mother with a baby in it, haha, classic annoying situation) and prayed to the gods that no-one would take up the aisle seat. But the gods didn't care about what Jason wanted. Four minutes before take off, a strange, middle aged man with sunglasses, a purple overcoat and a weird hat in the same colour sat down in the aisle seat.  
Percy tried to haphazardly greet the man, but he didn't react or even seemed to notice. Percy looked at Jason, who shrugged. It was either a regular weirdo or a god, so he had absolutely no reason to talk to him.  
The flight attendants started to explain the safety procedures. Jason tried to distract Percy by showing him pictures in his magazine, but it didn't really work. Percy couldn't really focus on it. Neither could he on the safety procedures, luckily (this once, ADHD came in handy).  
When the plane started riding, Percy clutched the arm rests of the chair. 'Oh no. I can't go back now.' Jason patted him on the arm.  
'Come on, it'll be fine. I am here, remember? Ze...'  
'Don't say his name!' Percy said way to loud, so that people around them turned to look (except for the strange man, who kept staring at the seat in front of him like he was going to do that the whole flight).  
'My dad won't strike us down while I am on the plane, Percy.'  
'Are we talking about the same person? And who says she who shall not be mentioned just takes over for one second?' Jason swallowed.  
'That won't happen,' he said, partly to himself.  
Percy buried his face into Jason's arm when the plane started to take speed in order to take off. 'This is it...' he muttered. Jason put an arm around his shoulder.   
'Come on, sit up straight, otherwise the sudden change in pressure will hurt more.' Percy slowly sat up again, still holding on to Jason's hand for dear life.  
When the seatbelt light went out, the man on the aisle seat immediately stood up to presumably go to the toilet (where else should he go?) and didn't return for twenty minutes. Jason cautiously picked up one of his books.  
'Did you bring anything to entertain yourself?' He asked Percy (and to distract yourself from thoughts of sudden death, he added internally). Percy nodded and got an ancient looking tablet out of his backpack.  
'... can that thing support anything?' Jason whispered.  
'Some really old games that will give me just enough entertainment to not be bored. I have to think about out sudden plumet toward the earth while the lord smites us too, after all!' Jason looked he deep in the eye.  
'I am really not appreciating gallows humour right now, Percy.'  
'What gallows humour?' Jason bit his lip. They should have just taken the train - who cares that it takes way more time than flying?  
'Don't worry about it. Try to relax, alright? Go to sleep, that might be good for you...'  
Percy tried going to sleep, he really did. Yet, just as he dozed of, the sketchy man came back. He didn't just sit down, no, he fell backwards into his chair, causing the baby to give a weep. Luckily, his mother managed to calm him down.  
On the second turn, the man decided to run off again. Percy inhaled deeply. 'Jason, I don't think this will work.' Jason accidently pulled the corner of his magazine.  
'Well...'  
'Ladies and gentlemen! We will be walking by with our selection of food!' The purser said over the intercom.  
'Do you want anything?' Jason quickly asked his friend. Percy shrugged. Jason gave a small prayer to Hestia - thanks to food, he muttered.  
Jason got the menu card and showed it to Percy. 'It is around lunch time, we could both order a packet of sandwiches... with something to drink...'  
'Lunchtime? Also, I have just eaten...'  
'Well, it always takes some time for the cart to reach you, seeing as how we are seated close to the middle of the plane...'  
'So we could drop out of the air before the cart even reaches us?'  
'Perseus Jackson...'  
'Sorry, sorry, Jason Grace... I mean, I wouldn't say I was joking, but...' Jason gritted his teeth and pointed at the menu.  
'Pick.'  
'Turkey sandwiches with a coke, please.'  
'Good boy.'  
In the time it took the servers to reach them, the mysterious man had jumped up and sat down again three times. At this point, Jason had realised that the baby was not the worst annoyance on the plane (not at all, actually. The baby had fallen asleep and wasn't crying at all).  
He ordered their food. Just as Percy tried to take a sip of his coke, the fates decided that they just had to be funny and a wave of turbulence hit the plane. Percy screamed and would have dropped his coke if strange man hadn't quickly put out his hand to catch it. Percy blinked. Jason shook his head a little.  
'Thanks...' Percy muttered. Mysterious man didn't react.  
Percy swiftly put his cup down on the table in front of him. The turbulence got slightly worse. Percy grabbed Jason's hand. Jason patted him on the shoulder. 'Shh, it's alright, I'm here...'  
'And that should stop him from striking us out of the sky or at least playing with me?'  
'Percy, if we evacuate, I promise to disregard the rules just this once and fly you out of the plane, no many how many mortals see us,' he whispered. Percy took a shaky breath - it seemed to calm him down a little. He closed his eyes.  
Jason looked around the plane for some time. When he made direct eye contact with weird neighbour, he immediately wished he hadn't. The man simply looked too invested in what Jason had just said. Jason quickly turned to take a bite of sandwich. The man stroked a single hair, next to his hat.  
After a few minutes, Jason realised Percy had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He elected to let him sleep - less nervous talking and more rest was a good thing. Mystery man got up quieter this time - apparently even he had some common sense.  
Percy managed to sleep through the majority of the three hour flight. He woke up just as the plane started to lose height. He screamed again and clutched Jason's arm. Man in the aisle seat turned his eyes on him (he had tried to get up again, but a flight attendant had stopped him from doing so).  
'What are... whuh... are we falling!?'  
'No, but the flight has almost ended and the plane is getting ready to be on the ground again.' Percy loosened his grip on Jasons' arm, but he didn't let go.  
'Here's your sandwich,' Jason said, while pushing Percy's sandwich into his hands. Percy took a nervous bite.  
'How quickly do planes usually lose height?'  
'At the speed we are right now,' Jason answered. Percy nodded.  
'Yeah, yeah, that's logical,' Percy answered meekly.  
He screamed once more, when the plane hit the ground. While it was quickly losing speed, he hugged Jason's arm and didn't stop until the plane was completely still.  
Mystery man was surprisingly swiftly gone. He simply wasn't on the plane anymore while everyone else was struggling with their suitcases. Percy and Jason, on the other hand, took their sweet time to get off and walk to the exit.  
'Jason?'  
'Yeah?'  
'We... survived. And so did the suitcases.' Percy smiled. 'Jason, we are still alive!' He cheered. Jason grinned. 'Yeah, we are. Oh, there's Annabeth's father to pick us up!' He pointed at the car in the distance. Annabeth's father waved at them. Percy nodded and dragged his suitcase towards the car. He waved at Frederik and also Magnus, who was looking like a ghost in the back of the car.  
Arnaldo moved his hat a little, so that he could hold his phone to his ear. 'Boss, There is magic in this world, I repeat, there is magic in this world.' On the other side of the line, Arnaldo heard someone sigh overdramatically. 'Arnaldo, I might believe you once you come back with more proof then video footage of a paranoid kid on a flight and his friend.' He hung up. Arnaldo cursed out loud. Yet, he would prove the existence of magic, no matter what it took.


	141. Disney World

Before the battle of the labyrinth  
Lee put his hat straight. 'Alright, first day on the job.' He felt a push in his back. 'Castor!'  
'What? You're being sentimental!'  
'One of our first jobs is at Disney World and that is how you react?' The son of Dionysus shrugged.  
'Oh, it's cool, but it won't last forever. Come, last go find out what we have to do.' Lee opened his mouth, but decided not to argue with a son of the god of madness on the first day. He had to make sure he got everything right.

'Oh, I think I might have put down the wrong times,' Lee said. Castor rolled his eyes.  
'Again? The show starts Ten 'O clock, remember?'   
Lee nodded. 'Yeah, yeah.' He looked at his watch.  
'There is two hours until the next show and there are probably not going to come a lot people to buy tickets. We could go get something to eat,' Castor told him.   
'Are you kidding? Mark will kill us!'  
'Mark is secretly a monster anyway. Let's go, there is a sandwich in my bag screaming my name.'  
Lee rolled his eyes. 'We took this so much more seriously a few months ago.'  
'Correction: You were far more serious a few months ago. Now let's go.' Lee sighed and walked along. He made sure that they walked quickly, so that the ticket booth wasn't abandoned for long. 'How is your life going?'  
'Fine. I miss my brother, but he'll be here in the weekends. One of my sisters has the flu, but she'll be better. And you?'  
'I am in Disney World trying to earn money, but my coworker wants to break the rules. Same old, same old.' Castor shrugged.   
'I can also collapse on the street.'  
'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' They reached the closest employee building, where they had left their bags. Lee tapped his foot on the floor while Castor took way too long to get his sandwich out of his bag.   
'I got it. Let's go back. Before Mark realises that we are gone and will devour us in one bite.'  
'Mark doesn't feel like a monster, Castor.'  
'He is just that good at disguising himself. Let's go.' Lee grinded his teeth and decided that it wasn't worth arguing over.   
Lee made Castor run back to the Indiana Jones show. They waited for a few minutes, but nobody came to complain. Not Mark, not a guest, not a god, nobody. Castor grinned. 'Told you.'  
'Remember last time?'  
'Vaguely.' Castor unpacked his sandwich and moved it to his mouth to take a bite, but stopped halfway through.   
'Lee. Right over there.' He nodded to the right. Lee pretended like he was writing something down, while looking in the direction he was pointed at. He saw a weird looking woman pushing a stroller. Her eyes were scanning the area in a way no regular human could do. Lee shuddered. He felt something weird in the air.  
'Some sort of monster, right?' He asked. Castor nodded.  
'Of course she is. We have to do something about it. You carry your bow around, right?' Lee nodded. 'In my bag. So in the backroom.' He swallowed. 'Stay here. Make sure Mark thinks I am sick, or something.' He stepped away from the gates that lead to the show and started walking towards the place they left their bags.   
The monster woman followed him with her eyes. Castor took a small bite out of his sandwich. Her eyes were like those of a cat at noon. He swallowed, but had trouble doing so.   
The monster walked further, slowly inching towards the stand. Castor put down his sandwich. It seemed like the monster thought he was easier to kill than Lee. Castor felt a familiar heat behind his eyes. He shook his head, reminding himself that he couldn't drive people mad, just confuse them slightly, and that he could do very little against most monsters...  
'I'd like a ticket for me and my baby, please,' the woman said in a hoarse voice that definitely wasn't human. Castor swallowed and told her the price. The monster opened her mouth to say something else, but she was stopped by another woman shoving her aside. 'I need tickets!' She screeched.  
'How many, ma'am?' Castor answered, on autopilot. From the corner of his eye he saw Lee coming back with his sword hanging by his side.   
'Doesn't matter! Just give me them!' She sniffed. 'Hurry up!'  
'Ma'am, I'll need to know how many people there are in your group in order to give you the tickets...'  
'That is private!' Castor sighed deeply. This truly was one of the most stupid people he ever met. He randomly pulled out seven tickets and gave them to the lady. She huffed.   
'That is two too much!'  
'Sorry, Ma'am. You can give me the tickets back, so I can give them to this lady...' he looked at the monster and put a step back. He eyes were glowing. She stretched out her arm. Castor couldn't pull his eyes away from what was happening. The monster slammed a claw onto the woman's' head. 'I got him first! Move away!' She hissed. Dracaena, Castor thought.   
The entitled woman screamed. Castor jumped over the counter and punched the dracaena in the face, which might be one of the more stupid things he did. Lee came running up to him - together with a manager. 'What's happening!?'  
'Sir, this guest hit another guest in the face. I was protecting her.' The manager opened her mouth, but the entitled woman nodded angrily. 'She is right! This *redacted* almost killed me!' Lee and Castor looked at each other. The woman was right, but as far as the woman could know, she just had a hand placed her head. They didn't complain while the manager called the police, though.  
With some nice help of the mist, the whole ordeal was over twenty five minutes later. 'Thanks, Hecate,' Lee whispered while they were back behind the counter being bored. They gave out tickets, made some small talk, munched on a couple of sandwiches and got even more annoyed by the music that played each day, all day.   
Nine 'O clock rolled around. All the people were inside the theatre, meaning that Lee had to stand guard by the stairs and Castor had to tell latecomers to move along. As two people who had worked at the same show for over four months might call it: The most boring part of the job and at the same time the most stressful one, because it was the part where monsters would get out to attack the viewers and actors.   
But not today, apparently. After the show was done, Lee waddled out of the theatre, towards his friend. 'I am so, so tired. Let's clock out, it is half past nine, we can...'   
'Castor! Lee! Towards the Cinderella castle, right now!' a manager commanded. Lee and Castor blinked, while the manager ran further to bring a similar message to the people working one ride over.   
'... I mean I guess it can wait...' Lee slowly continued. Castor yawned.  
'This better be important,' he mused, while he slowly started to waddle towards the castle.  
Standing guard at a castle because a bunch of rich kids have a part which they hired main street for? Blast, right? Castor and Lee wandered around the place, sending kids that didn't follow the rules away and almost being kicked in the shins multiple times by entitled rich parents that were a lot more annoying than the woman who had demanded tickets that evening.  
Lee's stomach growled. 'Ughhh. My sisters are waiting at home. They made dinner.' Castor sighed deeply. 'Sounds like Christmas. My warm bed is waiting in the employee village.' Castor looked at the floor. His head felt heavy and hot. He looked at his hands. They were shaking a little.  
'Cas? Eh, you might want to look out.' Castor looked up. Lee was slowly looking around. He walked a little wobbly. Castor shook his head. 'Oh, I am sorry. I have trouble controlling this stuff.' Lee looked at him.  
'I am going to sneak you home.'  
'What? You know that is impossible! And weren't you the one who complained about me...'  
'Doesn't matter!' Lee tugged on Castors' arm. 'You driving people crazy isn't going to help!' Castor just nodded a bit, before letting Lee pull him along.   
'We'll get fired. I'll have to go back to North Dakota,' Castor whined.   
'Cut it out. I already told you what we are going to do.'  
'So when I have dangerous ideas, I am a 'menace to society,' but if you do it, suddenly it's fine?'  
Lee stopped walking. He turned around so he could look Castor dead in the eye. 'How many hours did you sleep tonight?'  
'... fair enough. The car is in the third row, I believe.'   
'From which side?' Lee couldn't help but sound a little desperate.   
'The back.' Castor sighed and cursed, even though Lee did enough cursing for three quests of a year.   
'Mark definitely has noticed our absensence by now,' Castor remarked, when they had finally found the car.   
'Cas, if you have anything ramming down your door at midnight, I take half of the blame.  
'Thanks, that is worth nothing if I am dead.'   
'I know.' They got into their car (it was technically Lee's, but they had decided it was cheaper and safer to drive together). Lee turned on the engine. 'Now we are going to slowly drive to your home and it will be great.' Castor swallowed.  
'Keep repeating that and we might start to believe it.' Without answering, Lee drove off.  
They got five metres out of the parking lot before a speck of slime landed on the glass window. Both boys screamed. Lee smashed his foot onto the speed paddle. The car was over the speed limit within a few seconds. 'This is not safe! This is the direct opposite of safe!' Lee screeched, while going even harder. Castor didn't say anything. He tried to get his sword out of his backpack (Which they had thought about snatching along, luckily) while trying to push away the warm feeling behind his eyes.   
He turned around when he had the sword. 'Alright, slimy monster that goes scarily quick and looks exactly like Mark, right behind us.'   
'If it gets into the car, kill it with whatever means necessary. If it stays behind us, we'll kill it when we reach the buildings.'  
'Might look a little wild to kill a manager right in front of the people who work here.' Lee shrugged. 'We'll stay in the forest. We'll let the mist hang up a sop story. Whatever!'  
'Hey, that's my word.' Even though everything was quickly spiraling out of control, Lee laughed.   
It wasn't far to the residents of the employees, but it was far enough for Mark to catch up with them. With only one corner left to turn, Lee violently pushed on the brakes. Castor pushed himself back into the chair and held on to the safety belt. Mark flew past them.  
Quickly, they threw open the car doors. Castor had his sword ready. He didn't mind the heat. Lee aimed at where he supposed the monsters' heart was (You can never be sure). When the thing turned around, Castor let the heat go. The thing screeched. It's eyes shot around, like it had forgotten where it was or where it should go or what it was doing.   
Lee let the shot go. With another screech, it went up to dust, back to Tartarus. Lee lowered his bow and sighed. 'I am starting to regret this.' Castor got his bag out of the car.   
'I am going. See you tomorrow.' Lee nodded somewhat.   
'Yeah. I'll go back to the park, I don't think mark will... you know what, nevermind, I am just going to go home. See you tomorrow.' Lee stepped into the car and sped off.  
Castor stepped into his house. 'Hey! I can smell the smell of your awful instant noodles! Why didn't you get some for me?' Pollux looked around the corner.   
'You weren't home, brother.'   
'Couldn't you feel me coming?' Pollux laughed and pulled him into a hug.   
'Tell me, are there many monsters in the happiest place on earth?'  
Castor grinned. 'Well...'


	142. Hospital Troubles

Percy slowly opened his eyes. The world around him was a blur. He groaned. 'Will?' he asked. His throat felt raw. Speaking hurt. 'Wi..ll? Amboia?' He muttered. He felt a hand grab his.  
'Calm down, young man. It's alright.' Percy moved his eyes a little. He saw an unknown person sitting by his side. 'Woau?' Percy muttered, trying to say 'who are you?' The woman pushed a button. Within seconds, Percy's eyes closed again. He fell into a slumber.  
A few hours later, he woke up again. He felt a little brighter. He saw clearer. He heard voices in the background: 'We should check the heart monitor...'  
'He woke up a few hours ago, though... completely out of his mind, but we've seen that before...'  
'Hel...lo?' Percy muttered. He blinked. His sight got slightly sharper. He noticed that he was looking at a white... thing. He focused on his hands. He grabbed something - it was fluffy and soft. Oh, a bed. He realised he was laying down... so he was staring at a white ceiling. Something moved into his line of sight. It was the head of a woman.  
'Good morning.'  
'Hey...'  
'Can you tell me your name?' the woman asked. Percy blinked. He thought for a few seconds.  
'...Pewses... Per-se-us...'  
'Good, good, spell it out of that is easier for you. Can you also tell me your last name?'  
'Jason... Ja-c-k-son...'   
'Well done! and how old are you?'  
'Eigh..teen.' Percy swallowed. His throat felt dry. Swallowing hurt. 'I... no.. it...' The woman nodded.  
'I know you know, Perseus...'  
'Pewcy...'  
'I know you know, Percy. You just have trouble speaking. You have an injury by your throat. Luckily, you don't seem to have brain damage.'  
'Vewy lucy... indweed...' Percy felt that he was blushing. Why couldn't he just get a normal sentence out? The woman smiled. 'Shall I get you something to eat?'  
'Eh...'  
'I'll be back in a second!' The woman sped off. Percy blinked at the ceiling. He had heard someone else in the room. 'Hewlo? Sonene?' Nobody answered. He took a shaky, painful breath. He decided he was in a hospital, in an english speaking country. The woman was most likely a nurse. Percy didn't feel the presence of monsters around, not closely at least.  
The nurse came back with a small plate. 'Here... I got a few pouches with nutrients, it seemed easier.' Percy had to hold back a sigh. Of course he couldn't have expected anything actually tasty. 'Can you sit up straight?' The nurse asked.   
'Dunno.'  
'Do you want to see if you can?'  
'ya.' The nurse put down the plate and softly helped him sit up.   
'Can you see straight? Or do you feel dizzy?'  
'Nu.' Percy nodded towards the food. 'Kanit?'  
'Yes, you can eat.' The nurse handed him a pouch. Percy took it from her. His hands were shaking, but he managed to open it and take small sip. 'Eating' hurt even more than trying to talk.  
After he finished his pouch, the nurse took the plate again. She handed him a cup of water, which he finished while she walked around the bed. She took it from him again. 'Thanks. Now, I think it is best if you try to sleep for a bit.' Percy slid back down again. His throat throbbed.  
'Gooiea.' The nurse smiled.   
'Over there is a button. Push it if you need anything.' She turned out the lights and left.  
Percy stared at the ceiling. He was tired - it felt like he was hit by a truck - but he couldn't sleep. He was currently in a mortal hospital, which was not a good place for demigods. It attracted monsters and it would take way to long to heal. Not that Percy hadn't been in a hospital before, he once had to get plaster around his leg, but then his mother, Chiron and Annabeth knew where he was, keeping him safe. Now, he was on his own. If a monster would disguise themselves as a medical worker, he would be screwed.  
He blinked at the white ceiling. He heightend the blanket to see what he was wearing. A hospital gown. He tried to look around the room as well as he could. He needed his clothes. There was a coin in his pocket - he could Iris Message... someone. Annabeth, Chiron, his mother, Dionysus, whoever, he just needed to get out. He couldn't see his clothes. His eyelids were heavy. They closed, even though he wanted to keep them open so badly.  
He woke up when a beam of light hit his face. He opened his eyes. A different nurse then the one from yesterday was opening the curtains. 'Good morning, mister Jackson.'   
'Goomornun.'   
The nurse smiled. 'I brought you breakfast!' Great, Percy thought, another pouch tasting like fruit which has nutrients or something. The nurse helped him up and handed him the pouch. Percy quickly finished it. 'Uh... Iave... A... q-e-s-ton...'   
'Of course! What do you want?'   
'My... clovez...'   
'Your clothes?'  
'Ya... coin... in.. poket.'  
'You want a coin... that was in the pocket of your clothes?'   
'...Amulef?'  
'Alright then. I'll get your coin. I'll be back in a second.' The nurse looked at him for a second, before walking off. Percy took a deep breath and flinched. It probably wasn't the weirdest request the nurse had ever got, but it still felt stupid.   
A few minutes later, the nurse came back with the shiny coin. 'Here. There were also a few pennies in your pocket, but this coin looked more like an amulet.' She handed him the drachma. Percy nodded. 'Fank.'   
'You're welcome.' Percy nodded and flipped the coin around a few times. It had a big, shiny one on one side and Olympus on the other. The nurse looked at the machines next to Percy's bed. 'Waif, is... dat... hea-r-r-tmonisor?'  
'Are you asking if this is a heart monitor? Because, yes, it is.' Percy haphazardly swallowed again. He needed to get out or at least let someone know something was up.   
The nurse explained how the remote for the television worked before leaving him alone again. Percy looked around the room only to realise nobody left him any water. Halfway through he decided that that was a horrible idea.   
Percy pushed the button. Yet another nurse came in. 'Yes, is there something?'  
'CanI get... watez?'  
'Water? Of course.' She skipped out of the room and came back later with a jug of water and a glass. Percy slowly put some water into the glass, while she left again.  
He dropped a coin into the water. 'Eh... Izis... godef of ze.... goths... Ch-ch... Sa-lly Ja-c-kon?' He muttered. He took a sip of water out of the jug. To his surprise, the mist started shimmering. His mother's face appeared. She smiled when she saw him, but that smile immediately disappeared when she looked better. 'Percy! What is going on? Weren't you on a mission to Kentucky?' Percy blinked. Huh. He was on a mission to Kentucky, wasn't he? It was a bit of blur.  
'...Iuess... g-uess. im...hophital...'  
'...Percy? Are you okay? Did you try to say... hospital?'  
'Hm-hm.'  
'Poor child. Shall I make a call to Chiron to see what he can do? Do you need to get out of there.' Percy nodded. 'Aw.' It tugged on his throat a little. Sally smiled and grabbed her mobile Phone.   
'I'll keep you on the line as long as I can.'   
'Hm-hm.'  
While his mother was calling Chiron (Who had finally gotten a Phone, the trilobite) Percy saw that her hands were shaking. 'Perce... is that a heart monitor? What do you have.'  
'Dunno.' Sally smiled weakly.   
'Percy... Oh, Chiron! Yes, with Sally Jackson... No, everything is fine with me, no monster invasion... Chiron... Chiron, Percy is in a hospital... Wait a second. Perce, do you know in which hospital you are?' Percy shook his head.  
'Kantusy... Maye...'  
'Yes, that it is probably the most logical place. He thinks Kentucky... Yes, that is where his mission was, I thought... You'll send someone? Great. Thanks, Chiron!' She hung up. Percy felt a wave of relief washing over him. 'Perce, Chiron will send someone. I hope I got the right hospital and I do not know how much time they will take. Hang in there!' She smiled at him. Percy gave her a smile back, one as wide as he could manage.   
'Mister Jackson?' Without saying a proper goodbye, Percy swiped the iris message away. Swiftly, he drank a gulp of water that was way to big. He spit it all out and coughed. His throat hurt like someone had punched him there. He felt a sudden pain in his chest. The heart monitor gave a few bleeps. The nurse walked around his bed.   
'Oh, calm down!' Percy swallowed and coughed again.   
'Ouw...' He blinked. He started to realise how horrible he felt. Tears streamed down his cheeks. 'I..'  
'You almost choked on your water, I think. Sorry.' She smiled. 'Shouldn't you be sleeping?' Percy nodded.  
'Maye.' He slid back into a laying down position. The nurse turned out the light. Percy stared at the ceiling and the heart monitor for some time, before he started to realise the heart monitor was beeping constantly. Wow. Did he really not hear that before. With a deep, painful sigh he called the nurses again, to ask for earplugs. It still took him forty minutes to actually fall asleep after that.  
'Hey, Percy... Percy, psst, visiting hours will be over and I still need to get you out of here!' Percy heard someone yell right next to him. He slowly opened his eyes and got out the ear plugs. 'Hm?' The sound of the heart monitor pierced in his ears. 'Young man, I do not appreciate jokes like that,' He heard one of the nurses say. He heard a sigh.  
'neeso?' Percy mumbeld. He looked around the room until he, in fact, saw Nico standing next to his bed, with Will right next to him. The second looked like he wanted to feed Percy ambrosia and take him to the sickbay of camp Half-blood to properly treat him.   
'Sorry, Ma'am.' Nico didn't sound earnest and the nurse noticed it. She crossed her arms. Percy gave her a weak smile that hurt his entire jaw. 'Mam, cane twas prizat?' She raised an eyebrow.   
'Ma'am, I think he wants to talk to us in private.' The nurses' lip quivered.   
'A few minutes. And immediately call if something goes wrong. If the heart monitor only gives a bleep that is out of the ordinary, you call.' She walked off.  
'Wa tdo?' Nico grinned. Will gave a sympathetic small and filled a small cup with some nectar. He took a few small bricks of ambrosia out of his pocket and put them on the bed. 'Here, take some nectar.' He helped Percy with drinking the nectar.   
It took a minute for the nectar to start working, but eventually Percy felt the tension and pain in his chest, throat and other places dissolved. He still had bruises and cuts everywhere, but the worst pain was gone.  
'Wow, fanks, Wiw..' he rolled his eyes. 'Guess I still haf touble tawking...' Nico had to hold his hand for his mouth to hide his laughter. Percy looked like he would smack him if he wasn't still weak.   
Nico stood by the door and tried to block it with a chair while Will tried to untangle Percy from the heart monitor. 'I wonder if this whole thing was really necessary...' he muttered. Percy rolled his eyes. 'If you fay nof, pfo.. no.' He shook his head. 'Eh.' Will snickered.   
They heard loud knocking on the door. 'Hello? Open up! Mister Jackson, are you alright!?' Will went on with dismantling the heart monitor. Percy swallowed. Nico tried to barricade the door better. The knocking continued, even harder. 

Will freed Percy within another few seconds. 'Waf now?'   
'We can climb out the window!'  
'Hm-hm!?'   
'Don't worry. We got two of the pegasi.' Will opened the window. Nico shuddered.  
'I dislike them.' Percy shook his head and flopped out of bed. Nico helped him to his feet. 'Come, you can do it.' Percy stumbled to the window. Will dangeled his legs out of the window and whistled. 'Don't fall,' Nico muttered.   
Within seconds, two pegasi appeared in front of the window. Percy looked out the window. A few people were pointing up and screaming. 'Hecase is nof oing to lise iz.'   
Will shrugged. 'It'll be covered up.'  
Nico and Will helped Percy onto a pegasus before hopping up themselves. Nico stretched. 'That was a nice fifteen minutes of ignoring the screaming of the nurses. Percy sighed.  
'Poow nuwses. Zhey wewe nice.' Will, who was sitting on the same pegasus as he was, patted him on the hand. 'It's alright, they'll forget it in a bit. Come on, we need to bring you to the sick bay. You can't sit on this pegasus forever.'  
Pegasi were quick, but it still took an hour and a lot of Percy's energy to reach camp half-blood. He closed his eyes while Will tucked him into bed. 'Here is some ambrosia, Percy.' Half-asleep, the son of the sea god chewed it up, before really dozing off. Will took a deep breath. He started laying out some things he would need when Percy woke up again. It was a shame that they had had to smuggle him out of the hospital so quickly. It would be more difficult to figure out what was wrong with him now.   
Annabeth came running into the sick bay. Their was a little bit of blood coming from her lip. 'Oh, Annabeth, do you need a bit of cotton for that?' Will asked. Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy. 'Because of what? Where's Percy?' Will gestured at the bed.   
'He's asleep. Yet, er, your lips bleeding...' Annabeth didn't care. She walked around the bed, so she could look at Percy without disturbing Wills' work. She took a deep breath. 'He is going to be alright, though, doesn't he?'  
'Of course, just a bit of ambrosia, some bandages and I will have to figure out why he was on a heart monitor, but it'll be fine...' Annabeth grabbed her Boyfriends' hand.   
'Good. Thanks Will.'  
'It is only my job, Annabeth.'


	143. Hospital Troubles

Percy slowly opened his eyes. The world around him was a blur. He groaned. 'Will?' he asked. His throat felt raw. Speaking hurt. 'Wi..ll? Amboia?' He muttered. He felt a hand grab his.  
'Calm down, young man. It's alright.' Percy moved his eyes a little. He saw an unknown person sitting by his side. 'Woau?' Percy muttered, trying to say 'who are you?' The woman pushed a button. Within seconds, Percy's eyes closed again. He fell into a slumber.  
A few hours later, he woke up again. He felt a little brighter. He saw clearer. He heard voices in the background: 'We should check the heart monitor...'  
'He woke up a few hours ago, though... completely out of his mind, but we've seen that before...'  
'Hel...lo?' Percy muttered. He blinked. His sight got slightly sharper. He noticed that he was looking at a white... thing. He focused on his hands. He grabbed something - it was fluffy and soft. Oh, a bed. He realised he was laying down... so he was staring at a white ceiling. Something moved into his line of sight. It was the head of a woman.  
'Good morning.'  
'Hey...'  
'Can you tell me your name?' the woman asked. Percy blinked. He thought for a few seconds.  
'...Pewses... Per-se-us...'  
'Good, good, spell it out of that is easier for you. Can you also tell me your last name?'  
'Jason... Ja-c-k-son...'   
'Well done! and how old are you?'  
'Eigh..teen.' Percy swallowed. His throat felt dry. Swallowing hurt. 'I... no.. it...' The woman nodded.  
'I know you know, Perseus...'  
'Pewcy...'  
'I know you know, Percy. You just have trouble speaking. You have an injury by your throat. Luckily, you don't seem to have brain damage.'  
'Vewy lucy... indweed...' Percy felt that he was blushing. Why couldn't he just get a normal sentence out? The woman smiled. 'Shall I get you something to eat?'  
'Eh...'  
'I'll be back in a second!' The woman sped off. Percy blinked at the ceiling. He had heard someone else in the room. 'Hewlo? Sonene?' Nobody answered. He took a shaky, painful breath. He decided he was in a hospital, in an english speaking country. The woman was most likely a nurse. Percy didn't feel the presence of monsters around, not closely at least.  
The nurse came back with a small plate. 'Here... I got a few pouches with nutrients, it seemed easier.' Percy had to hold back a sigh. Of course he couldn't have expected anything actually tasty. 'Can you sit up straight?' The nurse asked.   
'Dunno.'  
'Do you want to see if you can?'  
'ya.' The nurse put down the plate and softly helped him sit up.   
'Can you see straight? Or do you feel dizzy?'  
'Nu.' Percy nodded towards the food. 'Kanit?'  
'Yes, you can eat.' The nurse handed him a pouch. Percy took it from her. His hands were shaking, but he managed to open it and take small sip. 'Eating' hurt even more than trying to talk.  
After he finished his pouch, the nurse took the plate again. She handed him a cup of water, which he finished while she walked around the bed. She took it from him again. 'Thanks. Now, I think it is best if you try to sleep for a bit.' Percy slid back down again. His throat throbbed.  
'Gooiea.' The nurse smiled.   
'Over there is a button. Push it if you need anything.' She turned out the lights and left.  
Percy stared at the ceiling. He was tired - it felt like he was hit by a truck - but he couldn't sleep. He was currently in a mortal hospital, which was not a good place for demigods. It attracted monsters and it would take way to long to heal. Not that Percy hadn't been in a hospital before, he once had to get plaster around his leg, but then his mother, Chiron and Annabeth knew where he was, keeping him safe. Now, he was on his own. If a monster would disguise themselves as a medical worker, he would be screwed.  
He blinked at the white ceiling. He heightend the blanket to see what he was wearing. A hospital gown. He tried to look around the room as well as he could. He needed his clothes. There was a coin in his pocket - he could Iris Message... someone. Annabeth, Chiron, his mother, Dionysus, whoever, he just needed to get out. He couldn't see his clothes. His eyelids were heavy. They closed, even though he wanted to keep them open so badly.  
He woke up when a beam of light hit his face. He opened his eyes. A different nurse then the one from yesterday was opening the curtains. 'Good morning, mister Jackson.'   
'Goomornun.'   
The nurse smiled. 'I brought you breakfast!' Great, Percy thought, another pouch tasting like fruit which has nutrients or something. The nurse helped him up and handed him the pouch. Percy quickly finished it. 'Uh... Iave... A... q-e-s-ton...'   
'Of course! What do you want?'   
'My... clovez...'   
'Your clothes?'  
'Ya... coin... in.. poket.'  
'You want a coin... that was in the pocket of your clothes?'   
'...Amulef?'  
'Alright then. I'll get your coin. I'll be back in a second.' The nurse looked at him for a second, before walking off. Percy took a deep breath and flinched. It probably wasn't the weirdest request the nurse had ever got, but it still felt stupid.   
A few minutes later, the nurse came back with the shiny coin. 'Here. There were also a few pennies in your pocket, but this coin looked more like an amulet.' She handed him the drachma. Percy nodded. 'Fank.'   
'You're welcome.' Percy nodded and flipped the coin around a few times. It had a big, shiny one on one side and Olympus on the other. The nurse looked at the machines next to Percy's bed. 'Waif, is... dat... hea-r-r-tmonisor?'  
'Are you asking if this is a heart monitor? Because, yes, it is.' Percy haphazardly swallowed again. He needed to get out or at least let someone know something was up.   
The nurse explained how the remote for the television worked before leaving him alone again. Percy looked around the room only to realise nobody left him any water. Halfway through he decided that that was a horrible idea.   
Percy pushed the button. Yet another nurse came in. 'Yes, is there something?'  
'CanI get... watez?'  
'Water? Of course.' She skipped out of the room and came back later with a jug of water and a glass. Percy slowly put some water into the glass, while she left again.  
He dropped a coin into the water. 'Eh... Izis... godef of ze.... goths... Ch-ch... Sa-lly Ja-c-kon?' He muttered. He took a sip of water out of the jug. To his surprise, the mist started shimmering. His mother's face appeared. She smiled when she saw him, but that smile immediately disappeared when she looked better. 'Percy! What is going on? Weren't you on a mission to Kentucky?' Percy blinked. Huh. He was on a mission to Kentucky, wasn't he? It was a bit of blur.  
'...Iuess... g-uess. im...hophital...'  
'...Percy? Are you okay? Did you try to say... hospital?'  
'Hm-hm.'  
'Poor child. Shall I make a call to Chiron to see what he can do? Do you need to get out of there.' Percy nodded. 'Aw.' It tugged on his throat a little. Sally smiled and grabbed her mobile Phone.   
'I'll keep you on the line as long as I can.'   
'Hm-hm.'  
While his mother was calling Chiron (Who had finally gotten a Phone, the trilobite) Percy saw that her hands were shaking. 'Perce... is that a heart monitor? What do you have.'  
'Dunno.' Sally smiled weakly.   
'Percy... Oh, Chiron! Yes, with Sally Jackson... No, everything is fine with me, no monster invasion... Chiron... Chiron, Percy is in a hospital... Wait a second. Perce, do you know in which hospital you are?' Percy shook his head.  
'Kantusy... Maye...'  
'Yes, that it is probably the most logical place. He thinks Kentucky... Yes, that is where his mission was, I thought... You'll send someone? Great. Thanks, Chiron!' She hung up. Percy felt a wave of relief washing over him. 'Perce, Chiron will send someone. I hope I got the right hospital and I do not know how much time they will take. Hang in there!' She smiled at him. Percy gave her a smile back, one as wide as he could manage.   
'Mister Jackson?' Without saying a proper goodbye, Percy swiped the iris message away. Swiftly, he drank a gulp of water that was way to big. He spit it all out and coughed. His throat hurt like someone had punched him there. He felt a sudden pain in his chest. The heart monitor gave a few bleeps. The nurse walked around his bed.   
'Oh, calm down!' Percy swallowed and coughed again.   
'Ouw...' He blinked. He started to realise how horrible he felt. Tears streamed down his cheeks. 'I..'  
'You almost choked on your water, I think. Sorry.' She smiled. 'Shouldn't you be sleeping?' Percy nodded.  
'Maye.' He slid back into a laying down position. The nurse turned out the light. Percy stared at the ceiling and the heart monitor for some time, before he started to realise the heart monitor was beeping constantly. Wow. Did he really not hear that before. With a deep, painful sigh he called the nurses again, to ask for earplugs. It still took him forty minutes to actually fall asleep after that.  
'Hey, Percy... Percy, psst, visiting hours will be over and I still need to get you out of here!' Percy heard someone yell right next to him. He slowly opened his eyes and got out the ear plugs. 'Hm?' The sound of the heart monitor pierced in his ears. 'Young man, I do not appreciate jokes like that,' He heard one of the nurses say. He heard a sigh.  
'neeso?' Percy mumbeld. He looked around the room until he, in fact, saw Nico standing next to his bed, with Will right next to him. The second looked like he wanted to feed Percy ambrosia and take him to the sickbay of camp Half-blood to properly treat him.   
'Sorry, Ma'am.' Nico didn't sound earnest and the nurse noticed it. She crossed her arms. Percy gave her a weak smile that hurt his entire jaw. 'Mam, cane twas prizat?' She raised an eyebrow.   
'Ma'am, I think he wants to talk to us in private.' The nurses' lip quivered.   
'A few minutes. And immediately call if something goes wrong. If the heart monitor only gives a bleep that is out of the ordinary, you call.' She walked off.  
'Wa tdo?' Nico grinned. Will gave a sympathetic small and filled a small cup with some nectar. He took a few small bricks of ambrosia out of his pocket and put them on the bed. 'Here, take some nectar.' He helped Percy with drinking the nectar.   
It took a minute for the nectar to start working, but eventually Percy felt the tension and pain in his chest, throat and other places dissolved. He still had bruises and cuts everywhere, but the worst pain was gone.  
'Wow, fanks, Wiw..' he rolled his eyes. 'Guess I still haf touble tawking...' Nico had to hold his hand for his mouth to hide his laughter. Percy looked like he would smack him if he wasn't still weak.   
Nico stood by the door and tried to block it with a chair while Will tried to untangle Percy from the heart monitor. 'I wonder if this whole thing was really necessary...' he muttered. Percy rolled his eyes. 'If you fay nof, pfo.. no.' He shook his head. 'Eh.' Will snickered.   
They heard loud knocking on the door. 'Hello? Open up! Mister Jackson, are you alright!?' Will went on with dismantling the heart monitor. Percy swallowed. Nico tried to barricade the door better. The knocking continued, even harder. 

Will freed Percy within another few seconds. 'Waf now?'   
'We can climb out the window!'  
'Hm-hm!?'   
'Don't worry. We got two of the pegasi.' Will opened the window. Nico shuddered.  
'I dislike them.' Percy shook his head and flopped out of bed. Nico helped him to his feet. 'Come, you can do it.' Percy stumbled to the window. Will dangeled his legs out of the window and whistled. 'Don't fall,' Nico muttered.   
Within seconds, two pegasi appeared in front of the window. Percy looked out the window. A few people were pointing up and screaming. 'Hecase is nof oing to lise iz.'   
Will shrugged. 'It'll be covered up.'  
Nico and Will helped Percy onto a pegasus before hopping up themselves. Nico stretched. 'That was a nice fifteen minutes of ignoring the screaming of the nurses. Percy sighed.  
'Poow nuwses. Zhey wewe nice.' Will, who was sitting on the same pegasus as he was, patted him on the hand. 'It's alright, they'll forget it in a bit. Come on, we need to bring you to the sick bay. You can't sit on this pegasus forever.'  
Pegasi were quick, but it still took an hour and a lot of Percy's energy to reach camp half-blood. He closed his eyes while Will tucked him into bed. 'Here is some ambrosia, Percy.' Half-asleep, the son of the sea god chewed it up, before really dozing off. Will took a deep breath. He started laying out some things he would need when Percy woke up again. It was a shame that they had had to smuggle him out of the hospital so quickly. It would be more difficult to figure out what was wrong with him now.   
Annabeth came running into the sick bay. Their was a little bit of blood coming from her lip. 'Oh, Annabeth, do you need a bit of cotton for that?' Will asked. Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy. 'Because of what? Where's Percy?' Will gestured at the bed.   
'He's asleep. Yet, er, your lips bleeding...' Annabeth didn't care. She walked around the bed, so she could look at Percy without disturbing Wills' work. She took a deep breath. 'He is going to be alright, though, doesn't he?'  
'Of course, just a bit of ambrosia, some bandages and I will have to figure out why he was on a heart monitor, but it'll be fine...' Annabeth grabbed her Boyfriends' hand.   
'Good. Thanks Will.'  
'It is only my job, Annabeth.'


	144. 'It's Just A Quick Trip To Asgard,' They Said

'This is not going to be a fast trip to get something back real quick,' Piper announced. Jason rolled his eyes and put his magazine down. 'Of course not. I thought we knew that when we... accepted, so to say.' He turned back to the magazine.   
'Yes. Accepted so to say indeed.' She stared out the window and sighed. 'Why did Odin even borrow something from someone from another pantheon? Don't they have Cellphones in Asgard?' Jason put his magazine down again.  
'Yeah, that's another thing I have been thinking about. Zeus muttered something about having borrowed it in nineteen thirty. So...'  
'So it is probably huge. One of those big old phones. And we'll have to find a way to bring it back that isn't through public transport because sitting on a bus with a huge ancient Phone is weird.'   
Jason took a deep breath. 'Basically.' Piper hid her head in her hands.  
'Why did I ever think this demigod business was boring, only because I did not get a quest after three days?'  
'I was thinking the same thing and I have no idea.'  
After a long trip and several changes of the bus, they arrived in Boston. Jason put his hands on his hips and looked around. 'Magnus said there was an entrance to hotel Valhalla in a Forever 21.'  
'Just A forever 21?'  
'Did you expect something fancier?'  
'No, what I meant was he did not specify which Forever 21? Or is there only one in Boston?'   
Jason bit his lip. 'He didn't specify and of course not. We will just have to figure it out.'   
Piper took a deep breath. 'I'll go ask somebody where the closest one is.'  
'What do you mean you need to know where Forever 21 is? You can just use google Maps, can you?' The not very helpful gentlemen answered. 'Now move along!' Piper sighed deeply.  
'This is useless.'   
'We asked one person!'   
'And he ruined it for me.' She got her Phone out of her pocket.   
'...Eh, Magnus said he was really busy, Pipes...'  
'With what, Ballroom dancing to the death? By all means it cannot be more important than evading Zeus's wrath.' She pressed the contact and called Magnus.  
'Magnus!'  
'Who?...'  
'Piper Mclean, from camp half-blood, on a mission!'  
'...Oh. Why are you calling? I am in the middle of tango dancing to the death and it is getting dire...'  
'What forever 21?'  
'If I send you the address, will you leave me alone?'  
'Pretty likely.' She heard a ping.  
'It's in your messages. Wait! STAY AWAY! Eh, bye Pipes!' She heard a click as Magnus hung up.   
'What a crazy bunch, those norsemen. Tango to the death, how do you actually come up with it? Now, the Forever 21 is not that far off, let's go,' She muttered while accesing Google Maps (she could have just done that from the start, but calling Magnus was just easier). She grabbed Jason's hand. Jason took a deep breath. 'I assume you know what you're doing.'  
They made it to the correct Forever 21 (And passed at least three others on the way. That's why places have addresses, Magnus). Somehow they found the entrance to Hotel Valhalla. It lead them to the main lobby. When they entered, The manager gave them a bored look. 'Eh? Oh, you two must be looking for Odin. You're here to bring The fossil... I mean the Phone, right?' Jason nodded.  
'Yeah that. The... Phone-like thing.' The manager laughed.  
'I like you. I'll call him over, he's in Asgard, you know...' The demigods nodded, while the manager picked up a slightly less old looking Phone than the one they were seeking.   
Five minutes later, the manager put down the Phone and looked at Piper and Jason. They immediately realised something was wrong. 'Alright, kids, he needs you two to come to the throne room.'  
'Like... on Asgard itself?'  
'Eh... I think so?'  
'Isn't that illegal?'  
'Not if you two have permission. Now, chop chop, the Bifrost is right over there. Run.' Piper and Jason followed that advice. 'Why did he say run in such a threatening voice?' Piper asked, while they ran towards the bifrost.   
'I have literally no idea, but I am not going to see what happens if we don't follow it up.'  
They entered the Bifrost. 'Woah! It's shiny!' Piper said slightly too loud.  
'It's like the Rainbow road in mario kart...' Jason muttered. Piper laughed.  
'I can guarantee you that some people went kart racing on this bridge once. Or more than once,' she joked. Jason shrugged. 'Wouldn't even be the weirdest thing they did around here.'   
'Children, no hanging around on the bifrost. Go where you need to go.' Jason turned around. Heimdall was standing on the bridge, looking way to excited for the tone he had just talked to them with. He looked like this was the first interesting thing that happened in days. 'Eh, lord, we don't know how to get to Asgard...' Piper begun.   
'You...you two are not allowed to go there.' Heimdall looked like they had gone crazy.   
'The manager send us,' Jason muttered. The god looked them straight in the eye while getting a very modern Phone out of his pocket and taping on it for some time.   
'Quick trip to get my phone back,' Piper whispered to Jason. Jason rolled his eyes.  
'Something is telling me we are just beginning the journey!' His voice was sarcastically happy.   
Heimdall was done with calling within a minute, but decided that he could take his time to check his social media for six more minutes while Piper and Jason were walking around on the bifrost and waiting for his reaction.  
'Children! You are allowed to go to Asgard, if you stay within the main hall and the throne room!' The god announced. He tapped his staff on the ground, which made an extra way of the rainbow road open up. Piper and Jason made a small bow and ran to the second way. 'Why are we running?' Piper asked. 'Because I do not want to stick on a slightly different Olympus longer than necessary.'  
'Completely agree. Let's go.'   
'Those... those are large doors,' Piper muttered. Jason looked up at them.   
'They are.'  
'Can you imagine how large the doors in Jotunheim must be?'  
'I don't want to. Let's get inside.' Jason laid a hand on the door. Luckily, he didn't have to push, because the doors just opened. Piper ran inside. 'I am not going to risk the doors closing.' Jason hadn't thought that before, but sprinted into the hall after her.   
The hall was long and big and probably designed to make people give up on walking to the throne room, but Piper and Jason did it anyway. 'This is a pretty hall,' Piper mentioned, just to say something and not walk in a silent hallway. Jason nodded. 'Yeah, yeah, it really is. And cold.' Piper gave a nervous laugh and huddled closer to him.   
'This place is weird. We shouldn't be here.'  
'I feel the same way.'  
After about fifteen minutes they reached the end of the hallway (It was one huge hallway). There was yet another large set of doors by the end. 'I bet you twenty quid that there is another hallway behind this door.' Jason rolled his eyes, but that was only because he didn't want to enter the bet out of fear that she was correct.  
Luckily, she wasn't. There was a small room behind the doors. On the wall in front of them hung two signs, one reading 'Please wait until you are called into the throne room!' With a smaller bit written under it in pencil reading 'Unless that takes longer than fifteen minutes, than feel free to barge in!'  
'We could just barge in and pretend like we have been waiting here for fifteen minutes,' Piper suggested. Jason shook his head. 'I think they'll figure out that we haven't waited.'   
'So what?' Jason decided not to react to that. The second sign just read 'In Frigg we trust,' which was sort of weird, but not that Piper and Jason cared for the first five minutes of waiting.  
'Honestly, I think Frigg is the one who owns all the braincells around here,' Piper mumbeld after those five minutes.  
'No, everyone shares one braincel, except Frigg and Odin, who own like twenty million, but Frigg uses them most of the time,' Jason said with a grin on his face. Piper laughed.   
'True, probably. But what can we say? On Olympus nobody seems to use the brain cells, except Athena occasionally.'   
Jason laughed as well. 'Well, I think Zeus just has them all, but never uses them. You know, because he can!' Piper almost dropped to the floor laughing, but then the door opened.   
'Jason Grace and Piper Mclean?'  
'Here!' Jason and Piper said at once, while scrambling up from their seats.   
The servant (They assumed it was a servant) lead them through the door. He suppressed a yawn while the kids walked through. Different day, usual nonsense, he thought.   
Odin was sitting in the middle of the room, at a dinner table, with a few other gods just hanging around there. Who they assumed was Freya, who was on Asgard for some reason (I don't know, I just narrate this story), winked at Jason and Piper, who both looked away, blushing.   
'Oh, you two must be the servants to get the Phone back.'  
'Well, we're demigods, so technically...' piper snapped  
'Yes, that is us!' Jason swiftly said, talking over Piper.   
'Zeus sends demigods to get an ancient Phone?' one of the gods at the table asked. 'Man, how many are there? Shouldn't you kids be training for the important stuff?'  
Piper and Jason were kinda stunned at that. 'Eh... of course, it is a divine issue...' Jason begun  
'What? Getting a Phone that you cannot use? I don't think...'  
'Aesir, Freya, please stop. Here, I got the Phone under the table.' He got a plastic bag from under the table. It looked even bigger than Piper and Jason had been thinking. '...Thanks, lord.'  
'Wait! Don't you two want to know how to get it to work?'  
'Eh, well, I guess...' Jason waffled.  
'No, sorry, Lord Odin, we need to run! Otherwise our mentor will get angry!' Piper yelled. She made a quick bow and ran away, carrying the huge plastic bag in her arms. Jason just stayed behind, not knowing what to say. He heard Freya laugh behind him.  
'I like that one! Can I keep her when it's her time?' Jason absolutely did not want to hear about Piper dying, he was already to afraid of that, so he bowed as well, muttered a 'good day' and left.  
He caught up with Piper easily - she was slowed down by the weight of the phone, after all. 'We are going to die!'  
'No, this is Asgard, Jason, no-one cares.' Jason thought about that, while he took one of the handles of the plastic bag. '... I am not reassured, but I can see how that is true...' He muttered.   
After another minute (It's not like they had no training at all) Piper started to slow down. 'Alright, I think that is far enough.'  
'You aren't entirely sure either, are you?'  
'No.'  
'A quick trip to Asgard...'  
'A quick trip to Asgard indeed,' Piper chimed after him in the same sarcastic tone.   
Halfway through the hallway, they realised that running through it was a stupid idea. Piper coughed. 'Oh help.'   
'We'll get through it.'  
'Can't you fly?'  
'I don't dare to do so on Asgard! For the same reason I don't want to do it on Olympus!'   
'Why not?'  
'Why not? Well, maybe...'  
'Mr. Grace, you are fully allowed to fly as of now,' they heard a calm, female voice say behind them. They stopped dead in their tracks and turned around. A small stairway had emerged from the walls. A woman was standing on it, although she was slowly walking downstairs.  
'Lady Frigg...' Jason muttered. To his surprise, Piper bowed without saying anything.   
'Yes, that is me. And I grant you permission to fly down the hallway.' Jason didn't really know how to react. So he just muttered 'Thanks Ma'am' and slowly backed away. Piper still stared at Frigg like a deer in the headlight.   
'Thanks, ma'am,' she eventually said. Jason wondered if she noticed she had said the exact same thing as he did. He managed to hold the bag correctly and levitated a few centimeters into the air. 'Come, Pipes,' he mumbled, while pushing her against the shoulder. Piper bowed one more time, twirled around and ran away. Frigg shook her head, realising that she really had a specific power over people purely out of aura.   
Piper took the plastic bag out of Jason's hands. In return, Jason picked Piper from the floor. This way, they made the end of the hallway within a minute.   
'Woo!'  
'Say that. Now let's just get out!' he yelled, while running through the door.   
They didn't even pay attention to Heimdall when running towards the path that lead back to Hotel Valhalla. 'Hey! No running! The bridge can be slippery and I do not want to be responsible for two premature deaths!'  
'We'll take responsibility!' Piper yelled over her shoulder.  
'They all say that!' Maybe it was the fact that he was a god, or just the slightly panicked but at the same time bored tone he had said that at, but Jason stopped running and made sure Piper slowed down as well.   
'Never thought I'd be this happen to see Boston!' Piper cheered, when she stepped out of Forever 21. An old man gave her a weird look. Jason took a deep breath.  
'...Pipes Mclean, you are completely right. Let's go find the bus stop.' He laid his free arm around Pipers' shoulder. Together, they walked to the bus stop. It didn't matter that it was really uncomfortable for Jason to walk the way he did.


	145. Roman Holiday

Annabeth hopped onto a bench and spread her arms. 'I could sail to the end of the earth!' She cheered. Percy laughed and jumped onto the bench as well. He put his arms around her waist. 'I'll sail along with you!' he said, half-laughing. Annabeth looked over her shoulder with a big grin on her face.  
A random holiday in Rome for day, why not? Of course, the peace could never last long and Annabeth and Percy knew that. Yet, they had decided to make the most of the peaceful time they had.  
Annabeth kissed Percy on the cheek. 'This is... sort off weird, isn't it?'  
'Who cares? Nobody'll remember. Come, let's grab lunch.' Percy hoped of the bench. He made eye contact with an older man, who rolled his eyes as if to say 'Young people and love, is there anything more annoying?'  
Hand in hand, they strolled through the Streets, trying to find a nice looking restaurant. Of course, there were lots of them - they were in Rome! - but they wanted something that looked extra special, just because. Eventually, they found it. It was a small lunchroom, with sight on the Tiber. 'This a good place?'  
'Perfect, Seaweed brain.' They sat down. Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand and just held it for some time. She giggled. 'Is this going to be this cutesy the entire day?'  
'Absolutely, Wise girl. Who's stopping us?'  
'No-one...' She quickly knocked on the table three times. 'You never know. The queen of love might have a day off.' Percy sighed.  
'I'd really rather think about anything else.'  
'Me too.' The waitress came towards them.  
'Ciao! Do you want anything to drink?' She asked cheerfully, while handing them the menu.  
Percy chose the spaghetti bolognese with a coke, Annabeth a pasta primavera with cappuccino. 'So, what do you want to do the entire day? Tomorrow, Hazel and Reyna will arrive to go to Milan, so we need to do everything we want today,' Percy asked. He left a pause. 'And we need to do everything before the foes appear.'  
Annabeth fiddled with her hair. 'I want to see the colosseum...' Percy shuddered.  
'Can we... keep that short by any chance? The last time I was at the colosseum it wasn't the best time. I thought the twin Giants there...'  
'Well, then we'll skip that. I want to know how the Vatican is build as well.' Percy smiled relieved. 'Well, we can see that from the outside, right?'  
'Yeah. And get ice cream on the way to the trevi fountains.'  
'Now that is a good idea! I want to see the fountains too - There is a statue of Neptune, I believe.' He got something out of his pocket. 'I got coins to throw into the fountain. They say you get a wish, which, you know, probably not true, but it'll be lame if we do not at least try.' Annabeth nodded and smiled. 'True. Let's just see what happens after that, shall we?' Percy smiled back and nodded. 'Great idea.' 

'It is... big,' Percy said as soon as they stood on the main square of vatican city, in front of the palace. Annabeth nodded enthusiastically. 'I know, right?! It was built when... Ah!' A troupe of tourists ran past them, disturbing Annabeth mid-sentence. She took a deep sigh. 'That seems like the universe telling me not to give mountains of information.'  
'When have you ever cared about what the universe told you?'  
'I wanted to suggest getting as close as we can without having to pay and then giving a mountain of information. Which I am going to do right now. Come.' She grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him over the square. Percy stared at the long rows of people waiting to enter the vatican. 'I am all on board with the no paying part - mostly because that also means no waiting in endless lines.' Annabeth looked over her shoulder.  
'True. Now, the palace was built in...'  
A small hour later, Percy's mind was filled with information about the center of Vatican city, Annabeth was tired of explaining everything she knew and they were both glad to just be eating their ice cream and walk along the Tiber, towards the Trevi fountains. 'You should do city tours if money ever gets tight...' Percy mused.  
'Yeah, I don't think so. Having to deal with people asking annoying and probably the same questions all day? Sounds like a nightmare.'  
'Hm. True, I guess. Hey, a gazebo! We could eat our ice cream there!'  
'What? Why?'  
'Romantic.'  
'... I guess.'  
Percy slowly maneuvered her towards the gazebo. They sat down, munching on their ice cream. 'This tastes good,' Percy mused, when he was almost done with the dish.  
'What'd you expect? Real Italian gelato here!'  
Percy put the last bit of cone into his mouth. 'Whatever you call it.' Annabeth rolled her eyes while finishing her ice cream. 'It's important.'  
When she was finished, she stood up. 'Now let's go to the fountain, shall we...' Her voice trailed off while Percy grabbed her hands and held them on about the height of her shoulders. 'What are you...' He slowly stepped onto the bench. It was a longer bench, without armrests. Annabeth chuckled a little and jumped up as well. They didn't realise that people were eyeing them from the Streets.  
After a bit of thinking, Percy stepped of the bench again. He held Annabeth by one of her hands. Slowly, they started walking along the bench. Slow at first, but quicker and quicker - like a scene out of the romance movies Annabeth liked to watch (She often watched them with Nico, who loved them too, although he would never say that out loud, except to Will).  
The first time they passed the entrance, Annabeth didn't try to jump to the other side of the bench. She hoped off, and Hoped on again. Yet, the second time, she did try it - and managed to get to the other side. Percy laughed out loud. 'Classy!' Annabeth grinned.  
They made a few more rounds around the gazebo, before Percy took Annabeth into his arms. With a small pirouette, he put her back to the ground. 'Well, guess we don't need a work out anymore,' He joked. Annabeth chuckled.  
'You're right. Eh... let's go to the Trevi fountains, shall we?'  
'An idea as good as any.' Hand in hand, they walked out of the gazebo. A few people giggled when they saw them. Another couple slowly sneaked into the gazebo.

'Small me watching the sound of music Always wanted a guy to do that...' Annabeth said. She sounded like she was miles away with her thoughts.  
'Well, small you got her wish.'  
Annabeth laughed. 'Not so small me as well.'  
Percy pulled her closer and kissed her on the top of her head. 'Good.'

Percy got out the coins as soon as he saw the fountain. 'I came prepared. Think of a wish.'  
'That is the difficult part.'  
'Not for me.' When he reached the edge of the fountain, he made a pirouette and threw the coin over his shoulder and into the fountain. Annabeth rolled her eyes and just dropped in the coin. 'You should have more flair for the dramatic,' Percy whispered.  
'No,' was the only, very on-point answer he got. Annabeth linked her arm through his. 'Come.'  
'To what?'  
'It's four 'O clock. We have to catch the train by eight. We have four hours to do what we want, but we must eat something in between and I am not settling for sandwiches. Percy nodded slowly. The atmosphere was perfect; to him it didn't matter what they did either.  
When it was half past seven, they strolled onto the station. Annabeth was humming to herself. Percy chuckled. 'Are you really humming You're The One That I want?  
'What about it?' Percy grabbed both of Annabeths' hands again. He slowly started singing along to the song. Annabeth fell in. Half-dancing, half-walking, they made their way to the correct platform. completely oblivious and young and happy and in love. 

Arnaldo hid his face in his hands. Did he really just follow two love struck teens around for a day, trying to prove that they had magical powers? He almost felt like giving up... almost. But Not really.


	146. What The Health

Chiron clapped in his hands, while trodding to the middle of the pavilion. He glanced at the food on the tables. He saw waffles and pancakes everywhere, often with syrup or even chocolate. The Stoll brothers were drinking chocolate milk. He sighed deeply. He should have done this a long time ago.  
'Alright, kids, I am here to announce something. Enjoy your waffles and pancakes one last time, because from now on this will be a healthy zone!' He said at what he thought was an afforative tone. He was met with complete silence. He looked around the pavilion again. People were gawking at him, like they didn't understand what he had just said. Like they actually had to start eating fruit and vegetables. A few Demeter children nodded, while taking a slow bite of cereal, granola or orange. They had gotten the speech from their mom over a million times - they were used to it.  
'You mean... we have to start eating waffles without syrup, or something?' Someone said meakly, breaking the silence. Chiron shook his head. 'No. For breakfast, porridge with fruit would be better.' He heard a few gasps around the pavilion. 'If any of you want to know the knew, improved menu for the next couple of days, A lesson takes place on 11 A.M.' He trotted off.   
A few seconds later, Dionysus materialised next to him. 'How long do you expect to keep this up?'   
'Forever. It isn't that difficult, Nys, and these kids need to have better eating patterns.'  
'I say you can keep it up for five days.' Chiron rolled his eyes.  
'I can hear the faith you have in me in that sentiment. How difficult can it really be?'  
'I saw the M&M's in your room, Chiron. If you can't even keep up...'  
'Dionysus, what I do doesn't matter. You could please show that you at least think the sentiment is good? Apollo championed it!'  
'Yeah, yeah, Apollo. Alright, the sentiment it fine, but I still say these kids are going to find a way to sneak snacks into camp quite easily. Bye!' He teleported away, leaving Chiron to sigh deeply. He had already taken steps to stop the kids from sneaking junk food into camp.   
'Alright, of all the weird ideas Chiron has had over the years, this is probably one of the weirdest!' A girl yelled. Many others agreed.   
'Don't fear!' Travis shouted back. 'Me and my dear brother have the solution! We'll sneak chocolate, soda, chips and cake into the Hermes cabin for days!' A few people cheered. Others knew that there was something more to that promise. After a few seconds, Connor confirmed their doubts: 'We'll sell every item for two dollars a piece!' A massive sigh went around the pavilion. Piper leaned closer to Lacy. 'Yeah, that is going to go up to five dollars a piece in three days,' she whispered. Lacy sighed and rolled her eyes.  
'Obviously.'

Surprisingly enough, every single camper showed up to Chirons' health class. Not because they actually wanted to know what healthy food was - but because they wanted to know what was going to happen during this new regime.   
'Alright, campers, I am surprised at your interest...'  
'Yeah, Interest,' Percy whispered to Annabeth. Annabeth snickered. Yes, she ate healthy often, because that was the wise thing to do, but she enjoyed her pizza now and then. Chiron continued: 'I have put together a meal program that focuses on getting as much nutrients as possible into your bodies. You need it. The meal program is focused on Vegetables, Fruits and wholefoods. Don't worry, meat, calcium and other things won't be cut. You all need that too, after all...'  
That was the part were most people started tuning out and tried to think of ways to get their own chips and Soda into camp before the Stolls would bankrupt them all. Percy thought he could buy some chips and popcorn when he was back at his mother's' place for a few days. Jason thought he might be able to fly things in. Piper had the idea to make a small stash under her bed, with chocolates that were often mailed to her by her dad, and other people had many other ideas.  
Chiron was done with talking at half past twelve - lunch time. The horn sounded and everyone slowly walked over to the pavilion. Everyone got seated, but nobody dared to ask a nymph to give them some food, like they usually would. Chiron noticed how unusually quiet it was. Maybe they are just a little intimidated, he hoped. He noticed Dionysus was suspiciously nowhere to be found.   
'Alright...' a few nymphs popped out after Chiron had said that. They brought plates to the campers. 'For lunch I had decided on whole wheat sandwich with middle aged cheese, chicken, and a side salad. Enjoy!' he sat down at the head table. He had been sitting there alone for hundreds of years, but now that he was trying something like this and he was used to Dionysus sitting next to him... man, he felt lonely.   
The campers noticed it, and they tried to like their sandwiches, they really did. Some of them even thought it was tasty, but most people were still in the mindset of baked potatoes and slices of pizza, or at least dessert.   
At the end of lunch, everyone quietly got to their training. Except for the people who had free time - they immediately got to work on getting their junk food into camp.   
They also immediately realised that it was going to be more difficult than they thought. Chiron had somehow found the Stolls' secret stash, and had taken out all of the snacks he thought were unhealthy. There was now only low-salt popcorn and a bottle of Arizona ice tea with zero point eight grammes sugar in there. Connor looked at the empty box with empty eyes. Travis got a golden drachma out of his pocket. 'I think we need to call dad for some new stock.' 

'I don't think they get it. I just want them to be healthy!' Chiron sadly told Dionysus, who was sipping a can of Cassis. The god of wine looked at him. 'I understand that, but maybe you should have just educated them on it before forcing them to eat nothing but vegetables.'  
'Yeah, I thought that too. I haven't cut the unhealthy junk from dinner yet.' He shook his head. 'It'll be fine. They'll understand!' he trotted off, before Dionysus could talk back (Not that he wanted to).   
A week later, the health craze was not yet over. But at this point, a lively black market in candy, snacks and soda was going on in camp. Almost everyone had sneaked stuff into camp or bought things from people who sneaked stuff into camp. Even the Demeter kids had bought chips from the Hermes kids. Dionysus knew what was going on - he just didn't care (Which is fair, I mean, he had to do that with his whole group of worshippers for years). Argus tried to monitor what happened, but he wasn't really made to track what snacks did and did not get eaten.   
It got more difficult for the campers when Chiron decided to check if the pegasi and Hermes brought in snacks - because those places were where seventy percent of sneaked snacks came from. Yet, it didn't really work, because when you can talk to animals, get things from the air or charmspeak people into giving you things, stopping you is impossible.  
Yet, on about the third day, Chiron started to notice that the dinner pavilion was emptying out. Less and less children showed up to dinner, lunch and breakfast, until only a few Demeter kids, some Aphrodite children, a few random others and a son of Hermes with Gluten allergy and lactose intolerance were still sitting in the pavilion.  
On the eighth day, Chiron decided to check out what was going on, because it was getting ridiculous. He made a small trip past the cabins during the time they would usually eat. He heard suspicious sounds coming from the Hecate cabin. Now this was nothing new, because the Hecate cabin was Always producing weird sounds completely out of its own, but this sounded like... eating sounds.   
He threw open the door without knocking. At least thirty people were sitting in a circle like it was a Dutch birthday party, eating pizza. Chiron looked at the kids. The kids stared back like deer in the headlights. Chiron sighed deeply. 'You know what? I give up. You all can come back to the pavilion for your regular food.' He trotted off.   
He looked so incredibly defeated that the campers started to feel bad. That night, they all came to the pavilion, and ate what they Always ate. This time, the campers noticed how lonely Chiron looked, at the head table.   
The next morning, the guilt was just... too much. Everyone, even the really small children, got something healthy and nutritious. Chiron noticed it, too. Partly because Dionysus had decided to join him again and he felt like pointing it out. 'Hey, they are actually eating fruit and porridge. I thought you said that you lifted the ban on unhealthy foods?' Chiron looked around.  
'...You're right.' He felt a wave of joy washing over him. 'Dio, what if it actually worked?'  
'Could be.'  
Well, not completely. The kids still enjoyed their pizza and fries, but they often got an extra portion of veggies with that. 

Chiron sighed deeply while he looked through his camp. Dionysus appeared right next to him. 'Say Chiron?'  
'What's bothering you, Nys?'   
'This was your plan right from the start, wasn't it?'  
'What do you mean?' Dionysus looked at his collegue. He was dead serious.  
'Never mind.' He disappeared again, just in time, because Juliet came running into the big house to complain about the Stolls stealing something from her and she needed to be told that she stole their pokemon cards the day before.


	147. Who Invented Training In The Mortal World

'Drew thinks we are going to have a girls day at the spa.'   
'That's not going to work, Piper. We are going to the gym and we are going to like it.'   
'Aye aye, Reyna.'   
'Reyna! Piper! Stop quibbling and get over here!' Annabeth yelled from the stairs. Reyna and Piper decided to join forces this one time, by walking up the stairs in the most louché fashion they could manage, going on with it slightly too long for Annabeth to still think it was funny.   
Annabeth opened the door. Hazel ducked under her arm and hopped into the gym. 'I've never been to one of these before!'  
'It's like training, but you have to make the program yourself and it's on machines,' Reyna explained.  
'I know that. I have just never done it before.' Hazel skipped to Annabeths' side, whom was standing by the counter.   
'Yes, hello, here are our passes.' She slammed her own pass and three accumulated guest passes on the counter. The girl behind the counter nodded and waved them away.  
'Good luck.'   
'Thanks.' Annabeth grabbed Hazels' hand, waved to Reyna and Piper to follow her and walked to the changing rooms.

'Wow! It's big!' Hazel cheered. She padded to a treadmill. She stopped when she saw the computer attached to the top of the thing. 'Eh...' Annabeth followed her.  
'Come, I'll show you how it works...'  
While Annabeth and Hazel both got busy with the treadmills, Reyna and Piper decided to go to the weight lifting side of the gym. 'You have never done this before, right?' Reyna asked. Piper shook her head. 'I have done this before, Reyna, don't worry, I won't drop a dumbell on your feet,' she answered while she picked up a dumbell of five kilograms.   
Reyna looked like she didn't believe it while she picked up a weight and lifted it onto her shoulders. She started squatting at an incredibly quick speed. Piper realised she was trying to lift her weight quicker than usual. When Reyna saw that, she started squating even faster than she already was.  
Annabeth and Hazel weren't being that competitive. Hazel was trying to keep up with her treadmill and Annabeth was trying to help her with that. 'Come on! You can do it!' Annabeth cheered. Hazel looked at her and smiled. 'Yeah, yeah, it's going alright! I think I could try to...'  
She was stopped by a clunk. She and Annabeth turned their heads towards the sound. They saw that Piper had dropped a weight onto her foot. While trying to see what was wrong, Reyna had dropped her own weight. They were now both massaging their arms. Hazel looked at the pad on her treadmill. 'Annabeth, this is the stop button, right?'   
She just heard a yelp and something falling to the floor. Hazel just pushed the button and looked over to the floor when the machine did, in fact, stop. Annabeths' treadmill was still on, but she herself was lying on the floor. 'Ouch.'   
Hazel jumped off of her treadmill. 'Annabeth! Do you need help?' Annabeth blinked and sat up. 'Ugh. No, I am fine.' She trembled back onto her legs. She tried walking, which went badly at first, but became more smooth the longer she did it. Hazel followed her towards Reyna and Piper, who tried to get up as well. Piper had stopped massaging her arms and was holding her foot while leaning against the wall.   
'This doesn't feel very good...' she muttered. She moved her foot around. Hazel stepped next to her. 'Come...' Piper put her arm around Hazels' shoulder.   
'Thanks.'  
'There is an ER just down the street. Maybe that's why they put the gym over here,' Hazel said, trying to sound upbeat. Piper gave her a dark grin. 'I think going there is not a bad idea.'  
'I'll help you. Reyna, Annabeth, don't feel like you have to wait for us!' She said, before helping Piper out the door. Annabeth turned towards Reyna.  
'Are you alright?' Reyna stretched an arm out.  
'Yeah. I saw you fall of that treadmill - is everything still in the right place?' Annabeth nodded absentmindedly. 'Hm-hm.'  
'Let's... go on, then. Safely, this time.' Annabeth nodded again, before shaking her head.  
'Yeah, we should, let's begin with the exercise bikes.' Almost robotically, Annabeth turned on her heels and marched towards the bicycles.  
Her march was stopped when reyna sighed. 'I am not a big fan of cardio machines.'  
Annabeth looked over her shoulder. 'I thought the romans were famous for their marches.'  
'Yeah, and I thought the greeks were famous for running like crazy and still getting things done.' Annabeth gave her an angry look. 'I am going to the exercise bikes. I don't care what you are going to do.' She turned her head the correct way again and continued her march towards the exercise bikes. After a few seconds of inner war, Reyna followed her and sat down on the exercise bike next to Annabeths'. 

Hazel maneuvered Piper to a chair after they had told the lady behind the desk what the problem was. 'Alright. We'll have to wait for some time. If we're in luck, monsters will leave us alone,' she said in a soothing voice. Piper rolled her eyes.   
'We're in a hospital. There is no way there aren't at least four chimera's in this ER waiting room. I can feel it.' She snickered. 'I put my bet on the lady with black hair over there.' She nodded towards an almost invisible woman that was reading a magazine in the corner. Her eyes shot around the room now and then. Hazel shook her head.  
'No, I don't think so. The blond guy, in the middle, by the plant.' Piper acted like she reached for a gossip magazine, secretly looking towards the man. 'Could be, but I don't feel the aura,' She whispered to Hazel, while opening the random magazine she had picked up. 'Yet, the woman with black hair doesn't really have that either. Maybe those two?' She looked over her magazine, at a mother with a five year old child. Hazel shook her brown curls.  
'No, that is just an entitled person, I think,' Hazel muttered. Piper laughed.   
'Ha. Totally. Just you wait, she is going to pull a stunt in the next few minutes,' she whispered slightly to loud.   
As if triggered by Pipers' slightly to loud tone, the woman huffed, stood up and marched towards the bench. 'Hello? Can we get a room sometime today?' She screeched. The woman behind the counter looked like she had heard this times and times again. 'Yes, but you will have to wait, ma'am. If I remember it correctly, your child only has a mild bruise on his leg.'  
'His leg is broken!' Piper looked over at the little boy, who was just calmly sitting in his chair. The desk ladies' eyes rolled a back into her skull a little, as if she was zoning out.   
A man came walking out of the bathroom. 'Do we still not have a room!?' He yelled over everyones' head. The other people in the ER looked stared at him. The woman by the desk turned around. 'No, the little twerp here thinks it isn't horrible enough!'   
The desk lady looked like she wanted to push them both out of the emergency room. 'Ma'am, there is nothing I can do. There are people in here waiting longer than you.'   
'Well, maybe we have an issue that is more important than whatever is wrong with them, right?' The man asked, looked smug. The desk lady stood up.   
Piper and Hazel didn't know how what the others saw, but they saw perfectly well that the desk lady extended her arms until they became tentacles. Without getting up from her seat, she wrapped the tentacles around the waists of the family members and put them outside of the ER. The three people looked like they were paralyzed.   
When they were gone, Piper put her magazine down. She wobbled to her legs and slowly dragged herself to the counter. '...eh, ma'am, are you by any chance...'  
'A monster? Yes. Don't worry, I am the only one here,' she whispered, and winked. Piper just nodded, before wobbling back to her chair. 

Reyna slithered of the exercise bike. 'Alright. enough.'  
'We have been in the gym for less than an hour...'  
'I don't mean with working out. I meant with this cardio nonsense.'  
'Cardio is...'  
'Tut tut. How many push-ups can you do?' Annabeth stepped of her bike, rolling her eyes.   
'Sets of thirty, usually, but I can push it to fifty.'  
'That can be better.'  
'No way.'  
'Sixty push-ups.'  
'In two sets, yes.'  
'No, in one.' Reyna dropped to her hands and feet. Annabeth sighed deeply, but started pushing up as well.   
It was after twenty-two push ups that Reyna realised that she had hurt her shoulders worse than she thought when she had dropped the weight sort of weird. After twenty seven push-ups, she fell to her face.   
Annabeth looked over, while going on with pushing up like there was no tomorrow. While Reyna slowly got up, looking defeated, she pushed herself to sixty push ups. She fell to the floor, breathing heavily.   
Reyna stared at her. 'I'll go get water,' she said, while standing up. Annabeth took a deep breath.   
'Thzanks.' Reyna rolled her eyes and walked off.

Piper and Hazel got out of the ER. Pipers' ankle was bandaged and she had been given a crutch, but they had told her to try and walk on it. She was doing that right now, while slouching back to the gym. Hazel was looking around. 'Hey! An ice cream shop!' She pointed across the street. Piper looked over. 'I have this weird craving for a chocolate sundae...' she muttered. Hazel looked at her and smiled. 'You deserve it, I think. Come, let's go get Reyna and Annabeth.' They walked further to the gym, suddenly feeling way better.   
Reyna and Annabeth were sitting on the floor, calming down from their push-up 'contest.' They were completely on board with going to get ice-cream and training more another day. Fifteen minutes later, when they were sitting in front of a few huge ice-cream sundaes, Piper 'Honestly, if this is what training in the mortal world can be like, I would do it all the time,' Annabeth said, while taking a bite of strawberry ice cream.  
'Agreed,' Reyna answered, agreeing with Annabeth for the first time that day.


	148. Nico's trip to the underworld

Nico walked down one of the many long hallways of his dads' palace. He was lonely - Will had to work a shift in the infirmary today and couldn't come along. Nico had decided to do something which he had never done before: Go through the little door in the back of the palace that had a sign with 'Escape route to Helheim' on it.  
Why? He had no idea. He reached the end of the hallway while he was still thinking up a reason as to why he was walking to Helheim of all places - partly for himself, partly because he needed to be able to explain it to his father and Will in case he needed to.  
Without to much thinking, He laid his hand on the door knob and opened it. There wasn't even a hallway, like he had expected - there was a room. He stepped through the door before he could back track.   
The room was slightly colder than the rooms in Hades. Maybe because Norway laid in a colder place than Greece. Nico didn't really care. He got the time to look around for five seconds, before he heard someone cough behind him. 'And what is a random, seemingly alive teenage child doing in my realm?' He turned around. The goddess Hela was standing behind him. She was wearing a long, victorian gown. Half of her face was hidden behind a mask. Nico shrugged.  
'I am Hades' son.'  
'So you thought you could just waltz into my realm like you own the place?'  
'Well, I don't think I own the place, since you stand in front of me and all. I was curious, I guess.'  
'Teenage boredom. Classic. Do you know how many people like that have just wandered into my palace without thinking about the fact that I live here and don't feel like wearing a mask at home?'  
'Then why did you put it on? I don't care if...'  
'Because otherwise they will scream, run away and not listen to a single thing I say,' Hela said, while reaching under her black hair and taking of the mask. Nico stared at her skelefied half. 'Cool. So, how does this place work?' Hela stared at him.  
'There is no way that I am going to give you a lesson on how my realm works, right after you just barged in, via a way that should only be used during emergencies...'  
'...and over there you can see the village of the people who were not that horrible. After a few ages I decided to make it better for them, because they didn't do anything bad. I told the other asgardians it was symbolic for the way I look, you know, half dead and half alive...' Nico took a sip of the juicebox he had gotten from one of Hela's servants. He had to admit, Helheim was surprisingly interesting.  
'... That's where I keep Baldr and his twin brother too, I mean he is going to rule the new world one day...' Hel sighed. 'I tried to make something of the place, you know? So that I do not live with just famine, hunger and pain around me?' Nico nodded.  
'Yeah, I get it, Hades tried to do the same. He built a whole garden for Persephone, and all. Oh, and gave me a room, that's cool too.' Hela blinked. Nico felt his muscles tense.  
'...and you have no business being here.' She pointed at a door near her throne, while grabbing her mask of the floor. 'That's the way to Duat.'  
'I don't belong...'  
'I don't care. Leave.' Nico bowed and stepped through the door, to the fourth hour of the night - Osiris' palace.  
He looked around for some time. A river flew past the palace. He wondered why he didn't step right into the palace out of Helheim, but he didn't really care. He walked through the open doors.  
Inside, Osiris was judging the death, like he should, with some ghost lady next to him. '...I see here that you gave free food to the elderly... now, that would be enough to land you in the afterlife...' the ghost in front of Osiris looked uncertain. '...and it is.' Anubis, who Nico only now noticed, got the ghosts' heart out of the scale. The ghost looked relieved.   
'Say, lord Osiris...' the ghost disappeared. Osiris looked over. Nico took a little step back. 'Man, you look like Sadie and Carter. Eh, I am Nico, son of Hades. That looked suprisingly relieved, are you sure he isn't hiding something?'  
'No, the good ones are often even more nervous than the horrible ones. They sometimes wonder whether they have truly done good.'  
'... if you say so.'  
'What brings you here?'  
'I stepped through a random door in Hades, walked into Helheim and then Hell send me here.'  
'Typical. Please stand back for a moment...' the ghost woman behind Osiris gestured him to follow her. She lead Nico away to a small living room.  
'Hey, you look like Sadie and Carter too!' Nico remarked. She smiled sweetly.  
'I am their mother. Ruby Kane. That over there is their father fused with Osiris. Want some tea?'  
'...Yes, Tea would be nice, please.'  
He talked with the ghost woman for what felt like an hour (but you never knew. It could have been a hundred years) before he decided to leave. 'Ruby, thanks for the tea. I think I should be heading back to Hades.' Ruby silently looked at him. 'Is there something with that?'  
'You... can't go immediately back to Hades. Firstly because Hell will probably feed you to her wolf and because the doors work in a circle.'  
'So I'll just have to go to the next underworld.'  
'I am afraid so.'  
'I'll will have to go then. I might see you again some day, Ruby.' He stood up.   
'I'll show you the door,' Ruby offered.  
'Yes, thanks.'  
Nico stepped right into the underworld the Inca people believed in - although he didn't know it was. He just knew it was... dark. He felt something dripping down his sleeve. Somewhere in the distance, he heard heavy breathing. Nico waved his arms around. He felt another door knob. He decided to just go through - no need to stay wherever he was right now.   
He stepped right into hell. Not the realm he had already been in - the Christian place. He also didn't feel like staying there - way too hot and it looked too much like Tartarus, which he could see whenever he wanted (Which was never, actually). He quickly disappeared to a door he hoped was the correct one (it wasn't, and he had to walk through six more wrong doors before someone noticed that he didn't belong here and pointed him to the correct door).  
While taking a small detour around the Babylonian afterlife (Which looked cool, it had seven creepy looking portals), he felt something buzzing in his back pocket. Confused, he got out his Phone. He didn't remember taking that along with him. He saw that Will was calling him.. 'Hello?'  
'Neeks? Are you doing alright!?'  
'Eh, yeah, what?'  
'We are having an issue! You need to... Aahh!' He heard screaming on the other side, before the Phone went dead. Nico felt panic rising in his chest. He looked around, desperately trying to find the next door. He felt a lumb rise in his throat when he remembered that he didn't know how long it would take to get back to Hades.  
'What are you doing here?' He heard behind him (For like the fifteenth time that day, if not more. He was used to it by now). 'I need to get out!' He heard a woman laugh. Slowly, he turned around to face Ereshkigal, the queen of the Babylonian Afterlife.  
'You can't.'  
'Where is the next door? To the next underworld?' Ereshkigal shifted her shoulders a little.   
'You know of the chain doors, huh... so you must have a goal.'  
'Hades!'  
'You do look like him.' The goddess grinned. 'Well, the door is right there. It doesn't lead to the Greeks, though. You could, of course, go through my gates, but then you'll have to lose your clothing...' Nico gave her a fake laugh.  
'I thought that was only the rule when you got into this place.'  
'Is it, now?' She grinned. Her teeth looked sharp. Nico made a deep bow and left through the door, right into Yomi.   
The place was dark. Not as dark as the underworld he had seen after Duat, but darker than most places he had seen that day. While running around the place like a loonatic, trying to find the next door, he caught a glimpse of a few zombified bodies. He shivered. He really didn't want to think of zombies after he had heard Wills' voice.   
He found the next door and ran through it, right into a long hallway. He kept running until he noticed he was running through his Dads' castle. He slowed down, before he dropped to his knees, panting. He sat on the ground for three seconds before jumping up again, remembering the Phone call.   
A few minutes later, he burst through the door of his own cabin. He had no idea how late it was, or what day, or what year. The camp still looked the same, however. He ran to the infarmary. 'Will!?' He heard someone walking around inside. Will appeared in the door.   
'Nico? Is there something? Did you get hu... oof!' Will coughed while Nico bear hugged him.   
'I got the call! What's going on?'  
'Call? I didn't call.' Will softly got out of Nico's arms. 'Is everything alright?'  
'I thought you called... You were hurt...' Nico whimpered. He took a deep breath. 'It... It must have been Ereshkigal, or Hela, or whoever else.'  
'Who? Hela? Were you in Helheim?'  
'... There too.' Will sighed deeply.   
'Come on, go take a shower. I'll get some tea.' Will kissed Nico on his forehead. Nico nodded and left to follow his boyfriends' advice, leaving Will to contemplate whatever Nico got into this time.


	149. You can drive that well?

'Alright, of all the unwise things we could do in this situation, this one is by far one of the unwisest!'   
'I don't know, I think staying in the hotel and hoping the problem goes away would be more stupid.'  
Annabeth turned towards Percy. She just had to stand still right now, in this deadly situation, to roll her eyes.  
'Yeah, that is The unwisest situation, out of all of them, you happy now? Let's just go find the car!'   
Percy chuckled. 'It's right through here!'  
They made to the car in one piece. Annabeth jumped behind the wheel, Percy sat down next to her. Annabeth pulled something out of her bag. Percy's eyes went big. 'Is that a gun?'  
'Yes. It has bullets made from godly bronze. When a monster with Rowans' logo on it gets to close...'  
'Shoot it, so we can stay in the car instead of having to run out. Good thinking.' Annabeth buckled her seatbelt in.  
'Ready?'  
'Yes.' With a speed that was far from wise to keep in the middle of a big city, Annabeth sped off, while Percy kept an eye out for approaching enemies.  
'Percy, Hydra at the bench on your side!' Annabeth yelled, while she impatiently waited on a red light. Percy quickly opened his window. It wasn't difficult to find a whole hydra hidden behind a bench (With an old lady on it, nonetheless. She seemed to think the Hydra was just a large dog). He aimed the gun and shot. The firing didn't make a sound (which made Percy wondered what the Hephaestus kid that built it did to it), but Percy wasn't known for his great aim. He missed and aimed again.  
He hit the Hydra that time - luckily, because he wouldn't have had another shot at aiming. The light went green and Annabeth drove past the two cars in front of her at a speed that would have made a Formula 1 driver afraid. Percy kept on the lookout. He thought he saw a hellhound with Rowans' logo slightly ahead, but the car went too quickly for him to properly see.   
While they were waiting for another red light (Osaka was absolutely packed with those), Percy pulled on Annabeth's sleeve. 'Annabeth, grey BMW, right over there.' He squinted his eyes.   
'I can't see their faces properly, but I think the driver is one of Rowans' henchman.' The lights jumped to green. Annabeth drove off at her dangerous velocity again, so that Percy was pushed back in his chair. 'It doesn't matter whether it is actually associated with Rowan or not, I don't want to find out.' Percy grinned.   
'That's my girl.'  
'Are you flirting with me while we are trying to get away from a dangerous monster trainer?'  
'Yes, for the necessary drama factor.' Annabeth couldn't help but smile.  
'Thanks for taking care of that. Also, we are reaching the first stop.' Percy gave her one nod, before he started to close Annabeth's backpack so that they could jump out of the car quickly.  
Three minutes later, Annabeth parked the car by the side of a park. She jumped out of the car on one side, Percy on the other. They ran through the park. Chiron had told them there was a second getaway car on the other side of it.   
Percy looked over his shoulder. He saw the grey BMW stop next to their old car. He saw two guys come out, both minions of Rowan - he had seen them before in New York. 'He's onto us.' Annabeth bit her lip. She sped up a little. 'Than we have to hurry.'  
They reached the next car without much issue. This time, Percy slid behind the wheel. Annabeth opened the back door. 'I can shoot from both sides here,' she explained when Percy gave her a slightly confused look. Her boyfriend nodded. 'Good idea. Now let's leave before those two have that car pried open!' His voice went slightly higher on the last word. Annabeth looked out the back window and saw that their followers were trying to steal a car. 'Yes, do.' Percy sped off.  
Because he was less wiser than Annabeth, Percy drove through the busy Osaka traffic even quicker than she had. While he was waiting for the six millionth red light, he looked over his shoulder, at the back seat. 'Do you see anything?'   
Annabeth was so concentrated on being on the lookout for Rowans' henchmen and monsters, that she didn't even hear him. 'Annabeth?'  
'Huh?'  
'Are you seeing anything?'  
'...oh. I shot two hydra's earlier, and a impoucha. I think I see that blue car they stole a few cars behind us. Try to get in between the two cars in front of us, if possible.'  
'I don't think I can drive that well. This isn't a video game...'  
'Green light!' Annabeth yelled. Percy heard honking behind him. A certain blue car got uncomfortably close. Percy hit the gas pedal and sped off, right between the two cars that were in front of him before.  
'...gods.'  
'Humans are capable of a lot of things when they are in danger.'  
'We're not fully human and I am not in that much danger.' He heard a rinkeling sound behind him. Annabeth screamed. 'Alright, they are attacking our window!' Percy hit the gas pedal so hard that he almost crashed into the car in front of him.  
'Perce, the next car is close nearby.'   
Percy cursed. 'The blue car is behind us. They'll hit us if we get out now!'  
'We have no choice. We can use the car as a shield.'  
'How do you want to do that?'  
'Wait and watch.' Annabeth moved to the door. Percy parked next to the third getaway car. The blue car tried to slide into the place closest to them, but was cut off by another car. Annabeth let out her breath. 'That makes things easier,' she said, while getting out of the car so quickly she almost caught her shoelace on the door.   
Annabeth and Percy traded places again. Percy decided to do what Annabeth did and sit in the backseat of the car. His aim was still very off, but at least he was able to see where people came from better. 'Annabeth, they are on the right, in a different car... A white Mercedes,' he muttered. '...Hey, I think Rowan himself is in that car!' Annabeth looked in her side mirror. She cursed.  
'Yes, that is Rowan.' Percy quickly noticed that the car, currently driving around an evil mastermind superhero movie makers would want in their films, stayed about ten metres behind them. 'They're planning something.'  
'They have been planning something since we got into this car!'  
'I think I see that strange guy that has been following us around is in the back,' Percy slowly said. Annabeth sighed deeply. 'Let's just try to get him at the next stop.'  
'You want to confront him? How?'  
'...I'll think of something.'  
'Wise girl, I am trusting you.'  
'Thanks, that's horrifying.'  
It took them fifteen minutes of speeding through Osaka to get to the new car. Percy gave Annabeth the gun when she stepped out of the car. They turned around, to face Rowan.  
To their surprise, the silver Mercedes with Rowan drove right past them. Annabeth immediately looked like she was on her guard. 'Wait, wait, wait, is he really only driving past us? There is no way. He is way to observant for that.'  
'Maybe not.'   
'Absolutely!'  
'Why don't we just drive in the opposite direction?' Annabeth thought for a while. Percy could just see the solution growing in her head. 'Let's... let's try.' She stepped into the new car and sat down on the byriders seat. Percy took the driver's seat. 'Let's go,' he softly said, while starting the car.   
Rowan stared out of the window. He gruffed. 'Hm. They are driving in the opposite direction.' The driver swallowed. 'I'll... I'll try to turn, sir!'  
'That would be nice.' Rowan turned towards the window, with an expression like thunder. He had worked on his monster zoo for years. He was not about to let a few teenagers ruin it all.  
'He is following us again.'  
'figures. Go left.' Percy turned the car left, because every person with a working mind would listen to Annabeth if she has a plan.   
'Wait, are we driving to our dear buddy Rowans' headquarter?'  
'Yes. Straight to his zoo, to be more precise.'  
'And then?'  
'Than you park the car so that it is in front of the monsters. If he acts the way I think he does, he will probably not want you to drive over them.' Percy swallowed.  
'Maybe I do not want to drive over them.'  
'I am pretty sure they have those slime things in the front.'  
'Let's drive.'   
Annabeth sighed. 'I find it cruel too.'  
Percy parked the car in front of the slimy monster habitat (Neither him or Annabeth knew what they were). Before getting out of the vehicle, he reached into Annabeths' backpack and got out a pair of sunglasses. 'If this is going to be like in the movies, we need to do it good,' he said. Annabeth gave him a weak smile. 'This one time than,' she said, while stepping out of the car. She flung the backpack over her shoulders. Both demigods stayed between the car and the habitat.   
Rowan appeared a few minutes later. He looked angry. He stepped out of his vehicle before his servants could open the door. Annabeth noticed Arnaldo slipping out of the car and sneaking out of the room. She didn't pay mind to him - Arnaldo had been proven to not be harmful.  
'Get away from my creatures!'  
'You mean the monsters you are training to kill demigods?' Rowan growled.   
'Get away or there will be consequences!' Percy stepped back into the car and turned on the engine. 'What consequences?' Annabeth asked. Rowans' lip quivered.  
He underestimated Annabeth. While his servants jumped out of the car to try and attack Annabeth, thinking she wouldn't notice, she dropped to the floor before crawling into the car. 'Welp.'  
Percy stepped on the gas pedal. He rammed the fence of the first habitat. A slime thing immediately went for the car and seemingly tried to swallow it whole. Annabeth swallowed. 'Am I glad that this car is not my head.' Percy hit the slime thing.   
'Stop!' he heard from the open window. He did. Only one of the slimes had been turned to monster dust (Which made Percy and Annabeth feel uncomfortable, if they had to be honest), but Rowan was already on his knees. 'Stop it! That is my lives' work! Don't you understand that it takes forever to train them?!'  
'What about their lives?' Annabeth yelled.  
'Who cares?' Rowan growled. Annabeth sighed.   
'We'll stop and set them all free, without killing them, if you swear to the river Styx that you will not try to, or not the very least not try to train others to kill demigods!' Percy yelled. He was sitting under the steering wheel to stay out of firing line, which was kinda uncomfortable.  
Rowan gritted his teeth. 'I... I promise on the river Styx that I won't use anything to kill demigods... or kill them!' He yelled after it, when he noticed that Percy immediately got up behind the wheel again. Percy nodded. 'Alright.'   
He got out of the car, only to immediately jump back in, because Rowan already broke his promise on the river Styx. That was not a smart thing to do. His muscles seemed to freeze until he looked like a statue. Percy shrugged. 'Let's get out of here,' he said softly. Annabeth nodded.  
'Great idea.'  
When they were outside of the sematary, they noticed the black clouds hanging above Osaka. 'I think this is why you do not break your promises on the river Styx,' Percy said over his shoulder. Annabeth snickered. 'Obviously.' She took a deep breath. 'Hey, a small cake shop. Let's get something to eat, before we leave this city and we can go back to the airport.'


	150. Be Save When Reading, Kiddo's

Magnus flipped through a Star Wars book he had stolen from Alex hoping he wouldn't notice for a day. Annabeth was sitting on her desk chair in front of him, with her laptop in her lap. She was staring at an online blueprint for a new cabin in camp half-blood. 'I know I could make it even better...'  
'Maybe you are being too much of a perfectionist. The design was already pretty good, I don't think the two people in the new cabin will really care whether it has plant baskets or not.'  
'...But I can add them, though.'  
'It is not necessary.'  
'Neither are Star Wars books, but here we are.'   
Magnus huffed. 'Star Wars has changed more lives than any plant basket ever will.'  
'That doesn't matter.'   
Magnus reopened his book. 'Well, I am going to read this 'unnecessary' thing again. You go on designing something unnecessary.'  
Annabeth gave him a mean look. 'That sounds like a new existential crisis.'  
'You're welcome.' Magnus begun to read. Annabeth went on with seeing how she could make the cabin have natural lighting without just taking of the roof.  
'Why don't you make the roof out of clear plastic bags?' Magnus asked after three whole minutes of being able to keep quiet.   
Annabeth took a deep breath, before closing down her laptop.  
'I should take a break. Want something to eat or are you unable to eat regular human food?'  
Magnus closed his book. 'I can eat regular human food.'  
'Good, because I have chocolate chip cookies left.' She turned around on her desk chair and put her laptop on her desk, before elegantly slipping of her chair.

'What is that specific book about?'  
'People fighting in space.'  
'I said the word 'specific.''   
Magnus took a deep breath. 'I have no idea, to be honest. My brain has been trailing off. I keep thinking about how I saw Denise from floor seven hundred and one make a paper-marché stegosaurus during arts and crafts. It strikes fear into my heart.' Annabeth felt a chill go up her spine. If you considered all the other things that happened at hotel Valhalla, paper-maché dinosaur was probably a real threat.  
'Horrifying. But we need something to do in the afternoon before my dad comes back.' Magnus sighed deeply and put his arms behind his head.  
'Annabeth?'  
Annabeth yawned. 'yeah?'  
'I have a bit of fairy dust in my pocket. It can make anything we want come to live.'   
Annabeth started laughing. 'What?'  
'Look, I'll show it!' Magnus got a pinch of the fairy dust out of his pocket. He grabbed Alex's book and sprinkled some on.  
Magnus expected the book to flap its pages a little, or maybe stand up. He didn't expect to suddenly see a droid jump out of it. It took a few seconds for his cortex to process it. After that he jumped up in confusion. 'Wait, who, what!?'  
Annabeth screamed. 'You didn't know that would happen!?'  
'No, not really! The last time someone sprinkled dust on a book it waddled around the table for some time! It didn't make characters out of the book appear and... and try to assemble lego, I guess...' Annabeth turned her head towards the shelf where her brothers' Lego was stored. The droid had found the instructions to a pirate ship and was now assembling it at top speed.  
'Honestly? That's impressive...' she muttered. She was helped out of her daydream when a second droid walked past her and begun to help the other.  
'Cousin, we need to get them back into the book.'  
'Of course, of course...' Magnus muttered, seemingly not having heard what Annabeth said. He was typing on his phone. 'Come on, Mallory, reply...'  
'Magnus, did you hear what I said?'  
'What?'  
'We need to get the droids back into the book,' Annabeth replied with a sigh.  
'I know, I am contacting Mallory about it... She is the dust expert of the floor, after all.'  
Annabeth coughed. 'Anything Mallory is the best at is something I wouldn't do.' Magnus stopped texting for a few seconds. 'Fair, but I was too bored to think about what I was doing.'  
'Yeah, same.'   
'Oh, she texted back!'  
'What do we do?'  
'...We wait until the dust wears of. They'll disappear then.'   
'Wow, that helps.'  
'Sorry, cousine, that is all I can do.'   
Annabeth sighed deeply. 'You're right. Lets just try to minimize the damage.'   
Magnus nodded. 'Great idea...'  
They heard a crash and a bleep. Some yelling in the background. They turned around. Droid #1 had stepped on a Lego pyramid, which Droid #2 was apparently angry about - because he was trying to hurt Droid #1.   
Annabeth jumped up and pulled droid #2 of droid #1. 'Come, come, calm down, we can make a new lego pyramid. It is alright.'  
'Move. Along,' Droid #2 said mechanically.   
'Come on...'  
'No.'  
'We will go to the store to buy new Lego!' Magnus yelled in the background. Droid #2 stopped attacking droid #1 when he heard that. He wanted some new lego. New lego that droid #1 wasn't allowed to play with.  
Magnus got his and Annabeth's coats. 'Let's walk these two to the toy store.' Annabeth sighed and retrieved her wallet from the nearby closet. 'At least it is something to do.'  
'Are you coming?' The voice of what they assumed was droid #2 asked them (it sounded less metal than Droid #1's voice). Annabeth and Magnus ran to the door to let the impatient droids out.  
As soon as they saw the outside world, they ran away. Magnus and Annabeth both grabbed hold of one. 'Come, come, calm down! It's alright! We'll get there!' Annabeth hushed them. The droids bleeped. 'Go. Fast.' Droid #1 announced. Magnus nodded.   
'Yeah, we'll go fast! Eh, Annabeth....' Annabeth knew what he thought - because she had realised that it was a good idea first. She got her car keys out of her pocket. The droids nodded.   
'Travelling with a spaceship sure is a better idea than walking,' Droid #2 remarked. Annabeth shrugged, while walking to her car.   
'This looks... primitive.'  
'It is a pretty old car,' Annabeth agreed.  
'Shotgun!' Magnus yelled, while creeping into the byriders' seat. The Droids moved to the back of the car after seeing Annabeth sitting down on the driver's seat. 

'Why are you stopping?'  
'It is a red light, if I wouldn't stop I would hit another car,' Annabeth answered to Droid #2's question.   
'Hold on. What are your names?' Droid #2 asked.  
'I am Magnus and this is my cousin Annabeth,' Magnus answered.   
'Oh, thank you! I am AC45 and this is RT76,' Droid #2, or AC45 answered. Annabeth slowly nodded, carefully making note of their names.  
'Is there any set you want in particular? I mean, we have pyramids and farms and... spaceships, I guess...' Magnus asked the droids, realising how stupid the question was.   
'Space. Ships,' Droids RT76 answered. AC45 nodded excitedly.  
'Yeah, spaceships!'   
'Alright,' Magnus answered. He looked at Annabeth. She looked back. They shared a look of pure annoyance because of the two fictional droids in the back, before Annabeth went back to concentrating on the road.

Surprisingly, they arrived at the toy store without further incidents, like droids jumping out of the car. Magnus opened the car doors. Immediately, the droids sprinted towards the toy shop. Magnus sighed deeply. 'Something tells me I should not have tried to evade Metal music To The Death.' Annabeth shrugged.  
'Buying a brand new lego set sounds like a blast compared to Metal Music to the death, If I have to be honest,' She answered. Magnus thought for a few seconds.  
'Yeah, I guess you're right. Come, I'll pay half if we get a really big one.' They ran inside, after their brand new droid friends.  
They were already looking at the Lego and furiously arguing about which set they should get. RT76 was holding a huge Han Solo spaceship in his hands. 'We. Need. This.' AC45 was pointing at a smaller set. 'No! We can't do that! Someone else is paying!'   
'I start to really care for him,' Annabeth whispered to Magnus when she heard that. Magnus nodded. 'Same. Do you think I can keep them if I get enough dust?'   
'Don't know,' Annabeth said, 'Hey, RT76! Be careful with that!' RT76 turned towards her.  
'Want. This. Let's. Leave.'   
'Wait. We need to see what AC45 wants,' Annabeth answered. RT76 didn't have a face, but he still looked angry. That is a skill I should master, Magnus thought.   
'Want. This. Not. The. Small. Box.' RT76 answered to Annabeth's reasonable objection. Magnus patted him on the shoulder. 'Come, explain why you want this box,' he asked RT76 to distract him. RT76 started to explain why this box was the best in such detail that Magnus regretted asking him after 3 seconds.  
'What do you have?' Annabeth asked AC45.   
'This smaller ship. I think we won't be able to stick around long, because we'll need to get back to work, so maybe we can finish this, but definitely not that!' he answered, while pointing at RT76's box. The other droid was violently thrashing the box around. Annabeth swallowed.  
'Eh, RT76, maybe you shouldn't...' She begun, but it already happened: RT76 put so much pressure on the box that it broke in half.   
Annabeth put her hand on her forehead. She took a really, really, deep breath. 'Alright, alright, alright, alright,' she whispered. 'Sorry, AC45...'  
'No, we should apologize! Now you have to pay for something we broke!' Annabeth felt like hugging him tightly. 'You didn't do anything. Let's just go to the check out before he breaks even more stuff.' AC45 patted her on the shoulder.  
'He is a newby. He still needs to learn.' Annabeth slowly nodded, while signing Magnus to get out of here as quickly as possible.   
They went to the check-out line and RT76 immediately tried to push three other people aside. Magnus firmly grabbed him by the shoulder. 'We need to wait.'  
'Why.'  
'It is the rule. It is nice.'  
'No. Time. To...'  
'Shhh. It's alright.' Annabeth studied her cousin and RT76 for some time. She looked over at AC45. She had never known robots could express apathy.   
They managed to get RT76 to wait for just enough time to buy the box. The cashier seemed to not even notice that the box was already opened. 'Have a nice day,'  
'Thanks, Ma'am!' Annabeth, Magnus and AC45 said at the same time. RT76 was more focused on the box.  
With Herculean strength they managed to stop RT76 from already setting up the lego set in the parking lot. They got him into the car and made it home without bumping into old ladies trying to cross the street. They tumbled inside.  
Annabeth didn't even care anymore when RT76 dropped all of the Lego on the floor. He and AC45 started building the set at an extraordinary high speed. Magnus put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. 'I am going to check the house for any other droids.' Annabeth sighed.  
'Yeah, thanks. Could you bring my computer?'   
'Of course.'  
Fifteen minutes later Magnus came back with Annabeth's computer and the happy news that there was no-one else in the house. Annabeth happily nodded. 'I am going to try and see if I can add something to that house.'   
'Again?'  
'Yeah.'  
'If you say so. I am going to get a cup of tea.'  
'What are you making?' AC45 asked while peeping over Annabeth's shoulder.   
'A house for the camp I usually stay at. I want to give the place more natural light.'  
'Why don't you make the rooftop of glass?' Annabeth looked at AC45.   
'...and I can add magical plants to cover it up with if they need to... they're kids of Flora, after all.' She clapped in her hands, which caused her to almost drop her computer. 'AC45, you're a genius! Just, let me add...' She started typing on her computer.  
'Oh, it's nothing! I just... thought...' his voice slowed down. Annabeth looked at him. She felt a twang of sadness as she realised the dust must be losing effect.   
Within a minute, AC45 and RT76 were gone. The Lego was still scattered on the floor - they got through half of the spaceship. Annabeth sighed deeply. Magnus picked up his book again.  
'Well, eh... I guess I should help with cleaning up for a bit. Come, we can just... put it in the box... that cost seventy dollars...' Annabeth shook her head.  
'I don't want to think about that. But putting it in the box sounds like a good idea.'   
Halfway through putting the pieces back in the box, Annabeth's father and stepmother came back. 'What is this?' Her stepmother said as soon as she walked into the room. 'Annabeth, did you take apart something your brothers built?' Her little brothers already opened their mouths to start crying and complaining, but Magnus quickly jumped in: 'Oh, no, I brought it along! From, eh, my place!'  
'Which is your camp?'  
'Sort of I guess...' The stepmother rolled her eyes. 'Well, continue cleaning up, then.' Annabeth's dad now came into the room as well. 'Hey, I don't recognise that set!'  
'It's... Magnus stuff,' Annabeth quickly said. Her dad blinked.  
'Oh, alright. Why are you breaking it off? It can stay here, you know...'  
'Can we help building!?' One of Annabeth's brothers yelled. He ran towards the box. Annabeth and Magnus looked at each other. 'Sure, why not?' Annabeth said.   
The rest of the evening was successfully spend avoiding Heavy Metal To The Death and building a giant Star Wars space ship. Magnus leaned closer to Annabeth 'Alex, Mallory and T.J. are probably laying on their beds with an earache right now. This is much better.' Annabeth looked around the living room. Yes, even though her stepmother seemed to forcibly laugh, this was quite good.


	151. Magic Isn't An Easy Feat

Annabeth walked through New York like she was walking down the catwalk. She had no idea what made her feel so incredibly self assured, but if you felt like that, what else to do with it than profit? She put her hand out to an oncoming taxi, which stopped a little farther ahead. 'Where do you want to go to, ma'am?'  
'Brooklyn,' was her answer.  
As soon as the taxi dropped her off in front of Brooklyn house (The taxi chauffeur had given her a very weird look when she asked to be dropped off in front of a destroyed building, but he couldn't know it was secretly a magic hide-out), the door flew open.  
'Hello, I basically felt your presence from a mile away,' Sadie Kane said. She leaned against the door frame. Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
'Yeah, sure, it's not because I send you a text a few minutes ago,' Annabeth answered. She walked to the door. Sadie pouted. 'I already realised you were coming before that.'  
'Sure. Can I have a cup of coffee?' Annabeth asked, completely disregarding Sadie.

'So, there was an issue and you wanted my help,' Annabeth summarised. Sadie nodded. Carter walked into the room with a platter filled with coffeecups, teacups and sweets. 'Not just any issue, there is an issue in the first nome, in Egypt,' Sadie remarked. She wiggled her eyebrows.   
'Is there any particular reason why you want me of all people to help?'  
'There is, but I am first going to explain what is wrong...'  
'We could really make use of your critical thinking skills,' Carter talked over his sister. Sadie gave him an angry look. 'Didn't you have a date with Zia?'  
'No. So, Annabeth, something is wrong in the first nome,' Carter said, while picking up a cup of tea.   
'Yes, and it is very dire situation,' Sadie continued.   
'Shut up, Sadie. Amos called us yesterday. Something went missing from the...'  
Out of nowhere, a bowl filled with a small layer of water lit up. Amos face appeared. 'Carter! Sadie! Hurry up!' Annabeth sighed deeply and sunk back into the couch. This was going to take some time.  
'Amos! We were just talking to Annabeth about the case! We just...'  
'No time. Your servants are right outside with the boat. Come here.' He disappeared. Sadie grumbled, grabbed a cookie from the almost untouched plate with food and stood up. 'We'll tell you on the way, Annabeth.' Annabeth shrugged.  
'Wouldn't be the first time somebody told me last minute what was expected of me.' She got a scone from the plate and followed her friends outside.

Amos was standing in the room of ages when they walked inside. He was staring at a blue area. Carter let out a yelp, ran up to him and pulled him away. 'Amos! That's dangerous!' Amos looked at him. 'Eh, yeah, it is. But I was trying to find some clues.'  
'By maybe being consumed by the wall of ages?'  
'It is very important, Carter.' Annabeth coughed.  
'Can I please get an explanation that is more detailed than 'Someone important is gone?'' Amos took a deep breath.  
'About fifteen years ago, the most powerful magician disappeared...'  
'Fifteen years ago!? Why are you beginning with searching right now!?' Sadie exclaimed. Amos gave her a sweet smile that very clearly meant 'darling if you don't shut up right now I'll send you back to Brooklyn.' Sadie understood it.  
'We had given her up, to be honest. It made the other magicians afraid, how someone with that power could just dissappear. Yet, now knew signals have reached us. I and a few other people from the first nome have been tracking those signals, but we need people to start and follow them.'  
'Alright, I get it,' Annabeth said, although it sounded more like a sigh. 'You want us to go find some person that went missing fifteen years ago. What do we need, is this the whole search party and when do we leave?' Amos snickered.  
'I can hear the excitement in your voice, Annabeth. And to answer your questions, we have prepared survival packs, Zia is getting ready a few rooms over and as soon as possible,' Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked at Carter and Sadie. 'Let's do it, then.'

A few hours later, they were walking around an underground tunnel. Zia held her wand in front of them, with a small light on the top. Annabeth was holding the walky talky to her ear. 'Alright, keep going forward...' Amos mused.   
'What other direction can we take, Amos?' Sadie asked. Amos sighed.  
'Sadie, what if there was a secret door to your right?' Sadie didn't answer to that. Carter stifled a giggle, which him immediately regretted when she pushed him. Carter tried to push her back. This would have become a war in a small tunnel if Zia hadn't turned around to look them dead in the eye and tell them to save it for when they were back in Brooklyn Mansion. They listened, because when Zia is serious about something you listen if you know what is good for you.   
The hallway ended in a room about the size of a classroom, except it was round. Zia held her wand higher in the air. 'Amos? What can you see?' Annabeth asked. She heard Amos sigh.  
'We can see a few hidden hallways behind the walls. Be careful, we don't...'  
'HA-DI!' Sadie yelled, before Amos could finish that sentence. The walls fell down. Carter was already running back into the hallway, but it wasn't necessary - there were no chain reactions, there just appeared four hallways.   
'Alright, it worked, so whatever. Which one do we take?' Annabeth slowly said. Amos answered to Annabeth's question: 'We can advise you to walk into the second hallway. We get a really strong signal from that part of the construction...'   
'So we walk right into the Lions' mouth?' Carter asked.  
'...If you want to see it like that. We remember this specific type of magic as hers'.'  
'I can't sense it. I can only sense something from the fourth hallway. Wouldn't I feel the magic if she was really powerful?' Annabeth asked. There was silence on the other side of the line. She made eye contact with Sadie. She was clearly thinking 'I would believe you over Amos any day.' She grinned and looked at Zia and Carter, who were seemingly thinking the same, even though Zia looked like she wasn't sure. Together, they walked into the fourth hallway, just like annabeth said.  
'What are you doing!?' Amos screeched.   
'Trackers can be hacked, my monster senses can't,' Annabeth answered. Amos sighed deeply. Annabeth snickered. 'Man, all people who work with children in the devine world sigh often,' she whispered to the others. Carter and Sadie laughed. Zia sniffed.  
'I can feel the magic getting closer,' she muttered. The other three looked at her. Her eyes were shining a little. Annabeth leaned closer to Carter. 'Is that normal?'  
'With Zia, almost everything is normal. You'll get used to it.' Annabeth shrugged. She had heard of weirder things and besides, she felt the magic getting closer to.  
'Zia, are you sure that we are getting closer?' Sadie asked after fifteen minutes of walking straight ahead.  
'I am wondering that too,' Amos said through the Phone. Zia got a dark expression on her face.  
'Annabeth was right about this hallway. I can feel it.' Carter and Annabeth nodded.  
'I think she's right,' Carter answered. Amos and Sadie didn't respond.  
Ten boring minutes later, they hit a roadblock; literally, because there was a magical force field right in front of them, which they sadly only noticed when Carter walked into it. Zia tried to cast a spell to break it - but nothing happened.  
Zia's mouth opened a little. 'Wait.' She tried to cast the spell again. 'Stop, why... why doesn't it work?' She sounded like that never happened to her. Annabeth looked around.  
'Hm. The magic is really strong...' she muttered. She rummaged through her pocket for a moment, before she found a small rock. She threw it through the hallway. It went straight through the place where the force field should be as well. 'Huh. How does that work?'  
'No idea,' Sadie said, truthfully. Zia licked her lips. 'This works different to anything else I have ever seen...' she gasped and pointed at the hallway. Carter, Sadie and Annabeth looked over.  
The hallway on the other side of the force field expanded. The back of the hallway lit up. The light had a pretty blue shade. A stairway rose up. On the top, a throne grew out of the ground.  
Zia held her wand way to close to her body. 'What...' Carter laid a hand on her shoulder.  
Annabeth bit her lip. Sadie grabbed her hand.   
In the back of the room, a long and slender woman appeared. She had a sword by her side like Carters,' except that it was glowing in the same shade of blue as the room. 'She totally put a spell on her sword, right?' Sadie whispered to the rest of the group. 'That's... difficult, right?' Zia nodded.  
'Yes, because our swords are usually already magical,' she whispered.   
The woman walked to the middle of the room. She had one of her hands on her hip, the other one hovered dangerously close to her sword.   
When she was halfway through the room, she stopped walking. She folded her arms in front of her chest. 'What are you... children doing here?'  
'We... eh... are trying to find someone...' Carter stammered.   
'Hey! There is someone standing in front of you, isn't there... Wait, that's her!' Amos yelled straight into Annabeths' ear.   
The woman seemed to have heard it too. She straightened her back. 'Is that Amos Kane talking?' She asked. Her voice was affirmative, but her expression softend a little. Maybe because of Amos. Annabeth gave her one nod. The woman gave her a small smile.   
'Can you ask me if he knows how to get me out?'   
Annabeth gawked at her for a few seconds, before repeating the question to Amos. Amos stayed silent for a few minutes, which, even though really refreshing, wasn't the answer Annabeth wanted. '... Eh, we have a plan, maybe. Zia, Carter, Sadie, can you try hitting it with a destruction spell all at once? Annabeth, stand back, please...'  
Annabeth rolled her eyes and turned around. Amos' plan was so easy that it had to work. She walked a little further into the hallway while it sounded like the magicians set off a nuke behind her. She turned around when the rumbling died down.   
The woman was now leaning on Carter and Zia. She was trembling.   
'How... how far is it?' She mumbled.   
'... About thirty minutes. Can you manage that?'  
'...I will have to.'

'Now that I think about it, it was weird that you managed to get that force field down so easily. I mean, how strong can you be combined?' Annabeth asked later on, when they were sitting in front of the women's room, waiting for the doctors' report on her health.   
'Horus, Isis and Nephthys. At least, I felt Isis' presence in my head,' Sadie answered, before taking a sip of her tea.   
'Why would they help?'   
Sadie shrugged. 'Maybe she was that important.'  
'Than why didn't the gods help her earlier? Force other vessels to go?'  
Zia shrugged. 'Annabeth, I know you are the daughter of the goddess of Wisdom and want to know things and all, but we don't know either, all right?' Annabeth took a deep breath.  
'Yeah, alright. Well, we'll figure it out, won't we?' It stayed quiet for a few minutes.  
Carter coughed. 'Who, eh... Who is the man who is staring at us?' He pointed at the pillar behind Annabeth. Annabeth turned around. Arnaldo was staring at them from behind the pillar.  
Annabeth jumped up. 'What are you...' Arnaldo ran away before she could finish her sentence. Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat down again. 'He's no-one. Now, about her magic...'


	152. Danse Macabre

Nico stumbled out of his cabin. He bumped into the veranda of the Dionysus cabin, before taking the right turn towards the Apollo cabin. He slowly knocked on the door. 'Hello? Will?' He heard some groaning and moving inside. Will opened the door. 'What's wrong, Nico?'  
'We have an issue in the underworld and we need you.'  
'So you want me to come over? At two A.M.? To settle a problem in Hades?'  
'... I couldn't think of anybody else.' Will groaned.  
'Wait, I'll just get my hoody.' Nico stopped him when he tried to walk back into the cabin.  
'No, I still have one of those in my cabin. Come.' Will took a deep breath, but decided to follow Nico anyway. Maybe he could ask Dionysus and Chiron for some extra sleeping time the next day. 

They walked down Nico's personal stairway to Hades and came out in his room in the Underworld. Will noticed there was a part of the nightstand missing. 'What happened?'  
'Fred the hydra destroyed it. With venom.'  
'What did Persephone think of it?'  
'Not much - because I haven't told her yet.' Will decided not to ask anymore questions. Underworld dynamics were still partly a mystery to him. Nico ushered him to the hallway and towards his fathers' throne room.   
Will heard flards of music coming from the throne room. Close to the throne room was a window looking over the Fields of Asphodel. Outside, he saw the ghosts... dance?  
'Are they... waltzing?'  
'Yes. I swear it wasn't my fault. Lee turned on the radio.'  
Will looked at Nico. For a few seconds, he listenend very closely to the music he was hearing. 'Do I hear the Danse Macabre?'  
'Yes, why else would the ghosts be waltzing? They don't do that with other music. Have you never turned that song on while in the upperworld? It attracts ghosts!'  
'Wait, like... for real?'  
'Yes.'  
'... I thought that was just my imagination...'  
Nico sighed deeply. He grabbed Wills' hand. 'Will, of course it is not just imagination. When was the last time something in the mythological world was just imagination?' Will honestly didn't have a rebuttal to that.   
The music was the loudest in the throne room. Will stood still and took a moment to read the room. Hades was lashing out at Castor and Lee, who looked afraid. Silena was desperately trying not to laugh right in front of Hades and Persephone, Beckendorf and Persephone were trying to get the radio to stop. In the back, a few servant ghosts were whispering to each other. A few skeleton guards stood by the door, with no idea what to do. Thanatos was looming around the room.  
Will took a deep, deep breath. He tried to mentally prepare himself. 'Alright, what is going on?' He asked, trying to make his voice loud and clear enough for everyone to hear it and listen to him.  
Of course it didn't work. Who was he kidding? Hades started yelling even louder at Castor and Lee (Will noticed the lord of the Underworld was almost in tears at this point). It made Silena burst into laughter for real. Beckendorf turned towards them. 'Will! Nico! Could you get the radio tool from our house, please? I may be able to turn it off!' Will opened his mouth to say something back, but Nico already pulled him along.  
'Why don't we wait until it stops?' Will asked.  
'It is playing on a loop,' was Nico's very simple explanation that Will could have thought of himself (He was there when Leo played Toxic on a loop for hours, come on, he knows it only gets annoying after the third time). They walked out of the palace without much hurry. They would get to Beckendorfs' house eventually, maybe before Hades killed Lee and Castor a second time.  
The music was somehow being broadcasted in the entire Underworld, even in Elysium. While they were still strolling through the fields of Asphodel, they noticed that even though most ghosts were dancing with someone else, some of them were just floating around on their own. 'Huh. I wonder if that means something,' Nico whispered. Will shrugged.  
'Could be, but what?'  
'No idea. Come, we need to find something in Beckendorfs' messy parts of his and Selena's house.' Will nudged his hand.  
'Yeah, that is going to be a challenge.'  
'You know, I forgot that he hadn't specified what radio tool he needed,' Will muttered, while he and Nico were staring at Beckendorff' staggering amount of tools - some of which might be related to Radio's. Nico sank down onto the floor, defeated. 'Gods, help us.'  
'I think only Hades can help us in here, and he won't,' Will remarked, while scanning a small pile of screws, screwdrivers and hairdryers. 'It looks like he has everything laying around in piles, but the places of the piles aren't very logical.' Nico looked at him from his place on the floor.  
'Can you help me up?'  
'No.' Will stared right back at him.  
'I feel betrayed.'  
'Nico...'  
'I mean, I thought we had a trusting relationship, you know...'  
'Neeks?'  
'If you fall, I will catch you...' Will sighed deeply and stretched out his hand. Nico took it and got up. 'Thanks!' Nico held Wills' hand slightly longer than necessary. He knew Will wouldn't be angry after that. 'Alright, so, hairdryers and screws are over there, right? I think I see the ballpoints, glasses and ink right there...'

It took them thirty minutes, but they managed to find a few things that might be the radio tool that Beckendorf meant. Nico yawned. 'Hm. I'm tired.' Will grinned in a not very comforting way.  
'You're tired? Alright.'  
'Yeah, yeah, sorry I woke you up. Come, we need to make sure Castor and Lee aren't being damned to Tartarus.' Will had no arguments against that. He didn't want Lee to be damned to Tartarus (and neither did he want Castor to be send to Tartarus, of course).  
Those worries didn't stop them from walking back to the palace like they were taking a pleasant walk down the aisle... I mean in a beautiful meadow. The Danse Macabre had started all over again. The ghosts were still slowly moving around the fields of asphodel. A few ghosts were standing on the field like they didn't know what to do with the music - Nico noticed those were the ones wearing fashion from the Roaring Twenties.  
'Hey, only the people in Charleston clothes are looking confused about what to do,' Will mentioned. 'Why not all of the people who aren't from the victorian age?' Nico shrugged.  
'Don't know, but I do know that the twenties were pretty wild. Maybe they just cannot function outside of that.' Will shrugged. He had heard weirder explanations than that.

'Beckendorf?' Nico yelled. The dead son of Hephaestus looked around the corner.  
'Hey, do you have it?'  
'Are Castor and Lee banned to Tartarus?'  
'Not yet. Hades send them to their rooms, though. Silena and I think they are locked in there, otherwise they would have come out by now.'  
'Sound logic. Here... we got this... and this...' Nico started to throw all of the Radio tools they had found onto the floor. Beckendorf stared at all of the stuff that was piled on the floor. 'I eh... I really should have explained what type of tool you needed, didn't I?'  
'Yeah, we still wouldn't have understood and would have brought you this,' Nico answered, while pointing at the pile. Beckendorf didn't answer. He rummaged through the pile of tools. Silena popped her head around the corner.  
'What is all that?'  
'My radio tools,' Beckendorf answered. Silena opened her mouth, but closed it immediately after. She leaned against the wall. 'Yeah, I should have cleaned it up,' Beckendorf answered her silence. Silena shrugged.  
'Your words, not mine.'  
'Isn't it that thing?' Nico said, pointing at a random thing in the pile that looked exactly like three other things that were also laying in the pile. Beckendorf shook his head. 'No, the correct tool looks similar to it, but it isn't that...'  
'What are we even seeking? A radiostopinator?' Will asked.  
'The concept of a radiostopinator, but nobody ever gave it a name, so it isn't called that,' Beckendorf answered, while pushing some things aside.  
'That means we can start calling it a radiostopinator,' Nico mentioned, not to be annoying or anything. Silena rolled her eyes. Beckendorf opened his mouth and said something, but what he said is completely lost to the void, because the Danse Macabre was suddenly turned up to eleven in the throne room next to them.  
If you have never seen Hades glide down a hallway at top speed, take a moment to appreciate that, because it is creepier than watching a horror movie on your own when it is friday the thirteenth. He sped into the throne room, yelling something incomprehensible.   
Nico peeped around the corner. Hades was looking around the throne room - but there was nobody. Nico blinked.   
Hades stopped pacing around. He turned towards the entrance of the throne room. 'Thanatos...' Nico heard him whisper. Nico felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked around. Will stared at him. 'Did you hear the evil laugh?' He asked, with a loud voice.   
Nico shook his head. 'No, but it is definitely Thanatos' laugh,' he screamed back. 'Beckendorf, do you have the Radiostopinator yet?'  
'It isn't a radiostopinator, but I have it!' Beckendorf yelled back. He walked into the throne room, where Hades was now sitting on the floor looking like this was the most inconvenient thing that had happened in a few yearhunderts.   
It took Beckendorf all of five minutes to turn the radio of, leaving it thoroughly destroyed, but Hades couldn't care less about it at this moment. He could always commission Beckendorf to make a new one, after all, and the Danse Macabre was finally gone and didn't give him a pounding headache anymore.

After quickly saying their goodbyes, Nico and Will went back to the upper world. Nico looked out the window while they were walking down the corridor. The ghosts had stopped dancing. They all seemed really confused about why they had started dancing in the first place. Nico took a deep breath.  
'Alright, that's fixed. I will sleep so good the rest of this night.'   
Will snickered softly. 'Shall I stay with you?'  
'That's not necessary,' Nico answered. Will pulled him closer.  
'Of course it is. I need to put a new hoodie there.'


	153. Apollo tried his best

Apollo groaned when a ray of Sunshine fell onto his face. He huddled deeper under his blankets. It was still early, what did he have to... Wait. He was hit by a ray of sunshine. At high speed he jumped out of bed and ran to the window. He was just in time to see Ra rise to the skies in his sunbark. He sighed deeply. Well, better get ready for a new day of work, then. He at least had to be earlier in the sky than Sol.   
Yeah, of course not. Apollo managed to dress himself according to the newest fashion, position of Venus and Mars, his mood and the place where Leonardo Dicaprio was at that moment. So, a blue t-shirt with grey jeans and white shoes (it was well thought out, alright). He walked out of his back door, to the stable with the sun horses in it, and got distracted by a random leaf on the path.   
He sunk to his knees. 'My, my, my... Now this really shows the magnificence of of nature...' His voice trailed away. He felt it coming. It was like a tiger hitting him. It was... inspiration.   
Apollo forgot all about having to be the sun and all that boring junk. Ra, Amaterasu and all the others would have to do it that day. Apollo strided to the room where he kept his musical instruments. What should he compose this magnificent piece on? The grand piano? Guitar? Violin? He shivered with excitement and skipped into the room, only to see Meg sitting on top of his grand piano.  
She waved. 'Hey. Whatcha doing?' Apollo's expression went from heavenly happiness to sour grape in two seconds. 'I was going to compose a new masterpiece on that grand piano you are sitting on, but that is impossible now that you are here unexpectedly and you made me forget my idea!'  
'Than it probably wasn't worth remembering.'   
'Tsk.' Apollo huffed.  
Meg hopped off of the grand piano. 'Aren't you the god of music? Can't you just think of something new?'   
Apollo gasped at the idea. 'Do you know nothing of art? Of course I can't just think of something new! Well, I could, but then it wouldn't be any good!'   
Meg shrugged. 'You got anything to drink?' Apollo scoffed.   
'Only if you come into the garden to drink it so I can get new inspiration from the autumn leaves.'  
'Deal,' Meg answered, already walking towards the garden. Apollo grumbled, pulled his ukelele of the wall and followed her down the hall.   
Now, autumn on Olympus is flat out gorgeous and it is very difficult to not get inspired when you see the leaves fly around. Apollo had to admit, Meg darting around the garden and making plants grow really helped the atmosphere get better.   
Half an hour later, Apollo was really starting to relax. He saw Ra's boat high above him, being the sun so that he didn't have to. Apollo took one deep, deep breath. The next moment it felt like his head exploded with ideas. He slowly got up, his eyes glowing. He felt the energy running through his body. Slowly, he picked up his ukelele.  
'Meg?'  
'Yeah, what?' Meg asked, popping up next to Apollo out of a pile of leaves.   
'I am going to Shenandoah national park,' he answered, with a slightly dreamy tone. 'The autumn is beautiful there. Could you just amuse yourself for a little while?'   
Meg pinched him in the stomach. 'I am coming with you. Also, how weren't you startled?'  
Apollo was at such a high level of ecstasy that he could ignore that last comment. 'No, you can't, Demeter will kill me.'  
'You're immortal.'   
'Your mother has some serious power, Meg.'  
'That you dare say that out loud just signals that I should go with you. You might walk straight into a river out of inspiration and get a cold.'  
'I am immortal, I cannot get a cold! You'll stay here, I will get back in the evening and then we can talk or otherwise I will just bring you straight to camp half-blood and tell Chiron to keep an extra sharp eye on you!'

So, as you probably expected, ten minutes later Apollo and Meg were walking around in the woods of Shenandoah. Apollo had already shaken off that he had wanted to go alone. The woods were so beautiful and the inspiration was still oozing through his godly vanes - why would he waste time staying angry and a thirteen year old? (and also Meg stopped him from walking straight down a cliff multiple times).  
He slowly strummed on his ukelele. 'I have a new problem!' When Meg didn't answer, he decided to just continue talking. 'Now I cannot choose what to play! It's all so... so...' Apollo tripped over his words trying to describe the magnificent ideas in his head.   
'So... I just don't know, Meg! That's how magnificent it all is!' He eventually managed to say. He looked around. Meg was nowhere to be seen. He felt a bit of panic rising in his chest. 'Meg?' No answer.   
'Meg!' Apollo yelled. His voice was a pitch higher than usual. Not that he was worried about Meg having dropped into a river or of a cliff herself, obviously.   
'Meg?! Meg!' He yelled. He didn't even realise he sounded maniacal at this point. He screeched at the top of his lungs when Meg appeared in front of him - by which I mean she dangled out of a tree by her legs, right in front of his face. She rolled her eyes.  
'I was gone for not even a minute, Apollo.' Apollo picked her out of the tree and put her onto her feet. 'What if you fell into the river, huh? Then you would have been dead!'  
'The river is a few miles away, I think.'  
'You think. Sure. Now stay right next to me or you might die.' Apollo closed his eyes and played an angry riff on his ukelele. After ten seconds, he realised that closing his eyes wasn't a very good idea. Luckily, Meg didn't walk away again.  
After fifteen minutes, Apollo stopped walking. He pouted and sunk to the ground. 'I have made enough notes here. I can't think of anything else.'  
'Notes? You haven't written down anything!' Meg answered.   
'I did in my head! I am a god! I don't forget what is really important!'   
'Are you sure? Because...' Meg couldn't even end her sentence. Apollo grabbed her by the hand and teleported them both straight to Disneyland Paris.   
He looked around for some time. 'Oh, ew.'  
'What ew? It's disney world!'  
'Disneyland. And it is gross. I wanted to go to the eiffel tower.'   
Meg took a deep breath. 'Boring.' Apollo decided not to even react to that, but just grab her by the arm and hurl her to the Champs Elysees.   
Apollo looked around. Meg coughed. Apollo immediately stopped looking around and instead grabbed Megs' chin to look at her neck. 'What was that? Are you sick?' Meg pushed him away.  
'No. Go get inspiration or something.' She looked around the Champs Elysees. 'Oh, look, waffles.' Apollo thought about that comment for a second. 'Waffles are very, very inspirational. Let's go eat waffles, Meg.' He grabbed her hand and walked her to the nearest traffic light.  
'Man, I never thought...'  
'You do not find Paris inspirational enough? We haven't even finished our waffles and it is Paris!' Meg answered before Apollo could finish what he was saying. He shot her a mean look.  
'No, I wanted to say I have never had a waffle like this. It is great.' His lips quivered. Meg stared him dead in the eye (Or straight in the chest, now and then. Meg wasn't that tall and looking up for so long strained her neck).   
'Alright, I think Berlin might be better and Demeter's' waffles are nicer. But these are pretty good as well.' Maybe it was because of the complement to her mother, but Meg didn't even mind when Apollo teleported them both to Berlin.  
'You know, it is sort of fun to see something of the world like this,' Meg muttered while Apollo dragged her towards the brandenburger tor, of which he expected to get the idea for the song of a lifetime - the longer he had to wait for the wave of inspiration to hit, the better the song would be.   
'Look! Isn't it wonderful!?' Apollo cheered, while wildly gesturing at the brandenburger tor. Meg stared at it for three whole seconds.   
'Looks old. Isn't there anything else closeby?'   
Apollo would of course never hurt a child. But that comment on this work of ancient architecture made him feel like just leaving here right there and teleporting back to Olympus and running a nice warm bath so he could inspiration from that. Yet, he didn't, because he was so nice.   
Because he was so nice, he let Meg look at the brandenburger tor for another half an hour while he made mental notes. After that, he decided that it had been enough. 'Meg?' She shrugged.  
'No.'  
'I am going home and you're coming along.'   
She stood up. 'Of course. Can I help with the song?'  
'Maybe,' Apollo said, while teleporting back to Olympus.  
When they arrived, Meg yawned. 'I'm tired.'  
'It's only one 'O clock!'  
'You don't get tired from teleporting around?' She yawned again. Apollo sighed deeply. Demigods, I swear. 'Come, we'll have lunch. That'll give you more energy and I can write my song.'  
It didn't give Meg more energy. She fell asleep while Apollo was humming to himself and scribbling something onto an expensive piece of paper (It had golden lines). 

Meg woke up in the Demeter cabin. She turned around and saw a sticky note attached to her pillow. She tore it off and held it above her head. There was a haiku scribbled on it in Apollo's not very neat handwriting. Meg groaned and held it above her head.  
I wrote a neat song  
Based on our trip this tuesday  
Hope you read this first.  
Meg rolled her eyes. That afternoon, during lunch, when she had to sacrifice some food to the gods, she not only gave some food to Demeter, but also to Apollo. 'We were out on a saturday and it is sunday now, Nerd,' She whispered to the flames.   
Apollo took a deep breath. He smelled M&M's and Brocolli. His eyes narrowed. Megs' favorite. He heard her comment and grinned to himself. He knew she had thrown a bigger portion than usual into the fire.


	154. Mess With The Forest And The Forest Will Mess With You

Ancient Greece, 500 B.C.   
Artemis oversaw the forest from high up in a tree. She took a deep, deep breath. It was early in the morning and she could still smell the fresh dew on the grass. It was really sad that she could also smell alcohol coming from the left side of the forest. 'Damn you, Dionysus,' she whispered to herself.  
'I have the right to be in that part of the forest today!' She heard from under her tree.   
'Yes, in the forest at Athens! Not here in Corinth!' Artemis yelled back.   
'I said Corinth loud and clear, Artemis!'   
Artemis huffed and climbed down a few branches, so that she could look Dionysus straight in the eye. 'You said Athens loud and clear, Dionysus.'  
'Behind us, Athena and Hephaestus were arguing. They were yelling the word Athens a few times. I didn't say it!'  
'Lies!'  
'Artemis, admit your defeat.'  
'What defeat? I didn't...' she abruptly stopped talking. She looked around. 'Wait. Do you...' She looked her brother in the eyes. Dionysus had noticed it too, she saw that. 'In the west, right?'  
'Yes. In the west. Intruders. Three men and two girls.' Artemis saw that he wasn't looking straight at her, but rather at a tree nearby. She saw a nymph disappear back into a tree. She gritted her teeth. 'Alright. We'll go get them.'   
It isn't difficult for gods to travel and within seconds Dionysus and Artemis were high the trees above the trespassers. Artemis sniffed. 'Hm. Two adult men, a boy and two girls.'   
'How about I'll get the left one, you get the right one and then we see what we do with the kids?' Dionysus suggested.  
'Alright,' Artemis agreed. She started Climbing down the tree. 'I'll go first. You can get the other guy later.'   
Halfway through the tree, Artemis stopped climbed and transformed herself into a squirrel. She listened for some time, until it was clear that the guys were, in fact, not having good intentions with the children. She rolled her chipmunk eyes and climbed farther down the tree.  
When she was at the ground, she changed back into human form. She slowly stepped away from the tree out into the open. She turned to the right man.   
'Leave them alone,' She said, with an expression that would have made most people run screaming for the hills. Yet, this man began to laugh. 'Well, well, well. A little girl who thinks she can help?' Artemis turned her gaze towards the other guy and noticed that he looked far more afraid. She straightened her shoulders. Her hands and head started glowing a little. She summoned her bow and took an Arrow out of her quiver.   
The right guy almost fell to the floor laughing when he saw her bow. 'Oh, she has a toy. Whatever shall I do?' The Left guy screamed and ran into the forest, trying to hide. Artemis saw the vines get thicker around the place he had run away to. She gave the forest a nod, hoping Dionysus would understand. Then she gestured the children to stay behind her, before shooting the man right through the chest.  
He didn't laugh after that. He disappeared into a cloud of nothingness. Artemis heard gasping behind her. One girl started to cry. She made her quiver disappear before turning to the children with a smile. She stuck out her hand. 'Hello. My name is Artemis. Where are you kids from?' The little boy shivered. One of the girls gasped.  
'Are you really... the goddess?' She whispered. Artemis smiled and nodded, before she made a few flowers appear in her hand. 'Here.' The little girl took one, with shivering hands. Artemis turned towards the girl that was crying. 'Come on, little one. It's alright. They can't hurt you anymore.' She nodded through her tears. Artemis assumed she was just too tired and scared to still think like that.  
Dionysus came out of the forest with an expression that meant business. The vines behind him became less thick. Artemis decided that the second guy was either no longer in existence, or had been added to Dionysus' team of drunken followers. She decided not to even ask about it. Why would she care?  
Dionysus summoned some food for the children. Eventually, the boy whispered that they were from Loutraki, a small place close to Korinth. Artemis clapped in her hands. 'Well, we'll bring you back to your parents, then.' She had closely watched the two girls and had decided that they were too young to become hunters. Slowly, she got up.   
She turned to Dionysus. 'Can you make sure no-one else is creeping around? I'll bring the kids back.' Dionysus gave her a nod.  
'Of course. I'll make sure Pan isn't getting too close to your nymphs as well while I am at it.'  
Artemis rolled her eyes. 'Yes, that would be nice, if you could do that on the daily,' she snapped back, while she and the children disappeared in a cloud of smoke.  
Dionysus turned around. He knew why Artemis had told him to check the forest a second time. He could feel the presence of more kidnappers sneaking around. And right now they were going after a few wood nymphs (Some of them were lurking at some maenads, but he decided to let those guys learn the hard way that you shouldn't screw with those girls. Maenads didn't need him to look out for them).   
People often forget that the forest is Dionysus and Artemis domain, and that when you entered the forest you are at their mercy. They let most people through without problem - a lot of people didn't want to stir up trouble - but the people who did mean harm could expect an unhappy surprise. Like suddenly seeing the trees light on fire in front of your very eyes.  
Leonidas screamed loudly. 'Fire! The forest his on fire!' He tried to drag his companion, a woman named Penelopa, along. She looked at him like he was crazy (Which he was, just to be clear. There was no real fire in the forest, Dionysus wasn't that stupid). 'What fire? There is no fire...' Suddenly, she started screaming as well. 'But... but thats a drakon! Right there!' She shivered. Leonidas stared at her. 'Woman, you are seeing things! There is nothing like that...' His voice trailed away when he saw it as well. Leonidas dropped his knives and bags. He felt his legs go weak. Penelopa screamed again, and ran deep into the woods.   
Leonidas knew he should run. He just couldn't. He looked at his feet. Thousands of burning vines coiled around his legs, ready to consume him when they got the chance. He felt all the blood running towards his feet. His gaze got glassy. Slowly, he sunk to the ground. The world became dark.   
Dionysus straightened his shoulders. He reappeared out of thin air. 'So, Leonidas. Maybe not a great idea to hunt wood nymphs for their poison, is it?' he asked. Leonidas, who was laying on the floor, of course couldn't answer. Dionysus sighed. 'Well, well, well. Now where are you from? Ah... Athens. What a surprise.' He crouched down and looked at the mans' face.   
He smirked and wrapped his hands around Leonidas' head. The mans' body shivered, but he didn't wake up. 'Now, I'll teleport you back to Athens. You shall remain there for all eternity, in the same small street behind the rich mans' houses. Like a young wood nymph who cannot yet get far away from her tree.' Dionysus snapped his fingers, and Leonidas disappeared. Dionysus looked up. He didn't feel the presence of Penelopa anymore. He shrugged and decided that Artemis probably took care of her.  
His sister appeared by his side a few seconds later. 'So. That was some hard spring cleaning,' She said, while stretching. Maybe I should get some more sleep.' Dionysus grinned.  
'Sleep? You? I thought it was Apollo's job to sleep.'  
Artemis gave him her famous dead-eyed stare. 'Funny, Dionysus, very funny. Of course I cannot go to sleep. I need to get my hunters to wake up and do their morning chores first. Oh, and I'll have to travel through Athens today, so please take your followers and go to Sparta or something.'  
'You know what? Great idea.' He smiled at her. Artemis didn't smile back, but he hadn't expected that. He disappeared into thin air again, only to have his whole group of followers appear alongside him in the woods that covered sparta. Back in Corinth, Artemis summoned her bow and got ready to walk back to her hunters. She strechted her arms. Another day, another idiot thinking he can break the rules of the wilderness, She thought.


	155. A New Problem (As If It Ever Stops)

Annabeth gave her tea and swirl before taking a long sip. She was sitting in a comfortable chair - well, as comfortable as it can get when Sadie Kane has decided that she wants to sit in the same chair. It was weirdly enough pretty comfortable to be squashed together, though. Carter sat in the chair to the left of them, Zia in the chair to the right. In front of them stood a small coffee table, with on the other side the magician they had saved from the underground catacomb a week ago.  
Her eyes were tired - not strange, when you considered that she had been locked under the earth for years. 'I understand we are waiting for Amos,' She said, while soothing her skirt. Annabeth coughed.  
'Eh... Sorry for the early question, but how do you know that Amos is the new head magician in charge? Wasn't the... other guy still leading the first nome when you dissappeared?' she asked.  
The woman gave her a very thin smile. 'Oh, I managed to get some information of the upper world while I was in there. Magic doesn't like to be contained, and while I could not break out of the prison I could make my life there... more comfortable.' She shivered.  
Annabeth looked at her cup. 'Hm. Sorry, you must be tired.' The magician smiled slightly wider. 'Well...'  
Amos came barging into the room. 'Hello! Sorry, I am a little late, there were some problems in the nome on Honolulu... Kids, Anaïs, have you already got to know each other?'  
'Of course,' Sadie answered, which wasn't really true, but everybody else just nodded. Amos sat down in the last of the chairs surrounding the coffee table.  
'So. Magic. How it works. Anaïs, who is the most powerful magician ever,' Amos said, before sighing deeply.  
'Yeah, you don't really have the dramatic,' Annabeth commented. Amos rolled his eyes.  
Carter went on: 'Maybe... maybe we first should know why we are all collected here, because I am not really sure...'  
'We wanted to know what Anaïs can do and what we can learn from that, right?' Sadie mentioned. Zia shook her head and almost dropped her coffee cup out of her hands. 'No, of course not, I was told we were here to discuss how this was going to affect the rest of the magic world!'  
It was quiet for some time, until Annabeth coughed. 'Hm. I was told something completely different from both of those things, but maybe Amos over here would care to explain what we are really supposed to do here?' She asked, while turning her attention towards Amos. He swallowed.  
'Eh... I was planning on doing all of those things...' He shook his head and leaned forwards. Anaïs shivered. 'What it may be what you want to do, could you please go quicker? I... I do not feel very good yet.' Amos' eyes darted through the room.  
Annabeth stood up. 'If we do not have a plan, it might be better to go back tomorrow and make sure we know what we are doing.' She put her cup down. Amos slowly nodded. Carter, Sadie and Zia all muttered an agreement. 'Goodbye, Ma'am,' Annabeth said to Anaïs. The magician nodded, while Annabeth walked out of the room.  
She didn't get very far, though. While she was walking towards the magical portal that should, if it wasn't broken, bring her back to Brooklyn House, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She shivered and quickly turned around, with her hand moving towards her knife. She stopped the last movement when she noticed it was Anaïs.  
'Sorry. Reflex.' The magician gave her a quick nod.  
'That's alright.' It went quiet for some time, before Anaïs continued: 'You aren't a magician, right?'  
'No, eh, I am a greek demigod.'  
'I know. Daughter of Athena.'  
Annabeth opened her mouth. Than closed of again. Than opened it again 'Yes. Yes that is right.' She blinked. 'Hm, I assume your senses are pretty evolved?' The daughter of Athena guessed. Anaïs hung her head a little.  
'Yes, my senses are highly evolved. Yet, they numbed down while I was under the earth.' Annabeth raised her eyebrows. She wondered what Anaïs senses would be like if she hadn't been stuck under the earth for years.  
'Eh... is there something else you wanted to ask?' Annabeth muttered after a bit of an awkward pause. Anaïs shook her head. 'No. I'll see you back tomorrow, I think.' Annabeth bowed her head a little.  
'Goodbye.' She turned around and tried to walk into the pod.  
'Wait...' she heard behind her. Yet, Annabeth couldn't walk back anymore. he transport back to Brooklyn House had already begun.   
Or so she thought. Instead of stepping out in Brooklyn, she was transferred to... a cold place. A very cold place, with... snow? Annabeth raised her eyebrows again. It was september. There shouldn't be snow yet. She stood up. Her hand moved towards her knife. She shivered. She wasn't properly clothed for snow, she was clothed for the Egyptian weather. She looked around. She just saw snow, some bushes and trees. Taiga.  
Behind her, she heard a soft humming. She turned around and saw that Anaïs had followed her. She had her wand out. She pointed at Annabeth and muttered something. Annabeth had no idea what she said, but it gave her warm clothes, so she didn't complain. '...thanks. Where are we?' She asked.   
'Siberia, I believe, but I am not sure,' Anaïs answered, before giving herself some warmer clothes as well.  
Annabeth scanned the area again. She felt that there was something wrong.   
'We need to get out of here,' Annabeth whispered. Anaïs turned to the portal, which was slowly fading - apparently, someone had noticed that it brought you to the wrong place and hadn't bothered to check if anybody had already gone through it. Anaïs put her hands on her hips. 'That won't be difficult. I can make another opening through duat to bring us back to Egypt.' Annabeth looked at her. The woman was shivering, even though she was wearing a coat warm enough to last -10 degrees celsius. She shook her head.  
'I think... you might still be ill from being under the ground for days. Maybe you should first get some rest.' Anaïs got out her wand. 'Where should I rest in this barren taiga? I will have to at least try and get us back.' Annabeth didn't answer. Her expression got more serious when she saw that Anaïs' hands were trembling while she was trying to cast a spell.  
Of course it didn't work. Travelling through Duat is something only highly trained magicians even attempt to do, and you certainly can't do it when you are weakened by being in a cave for fifteen years. Anaïs almost fell to her knees - Annabeth caught her at the last moment. The daughter of Athena got her back on her legs and put the magicians' arm around her shoulders. 'Come. You'll have to rest,' she told her. She looked around. Anaïs was right; the place was barren and empty. Annabeth took a deep breath. In the distance were a few trees; she might be able to make something there.  
It was a bad shelter, but there was at least a bit of running water near the group of trees. Annabeth put her hands into her pockets for a moment, trying to think of find a way to scoop the water up so they could drink it, and was delighted to find a small cup which was apparently standard with the survival clothes spell.  
'Do you know if it is safe to drink this?' Annabeth asked. She held up the cup of water. It didn't really matter what the answer was - she knew she had to drink it anyway. Anaïs looked like she was too weak to even summon in a piece of peppermint. Anaïs shrugged. 'You can never tell.' Annabeth stared at the water, before drinking it. 'Getting dehydrated will not help us getting back.'  
Annabeth stared up at the sun. 'I think we have about seven hours before the sun goes down.' She took a deep breath. 'I... don't really know what to do. I guess we should just wait for Amos to realise what went wrong and come find us, but that could take some time. The first nome is more disorganised than Zeus's desk now and then.' She turned towards Anaïs, who opened her mouth to say something back, which was disturbed when they heard a loud noise in the background.  
She pulled out her knife again, this time deciding to just hold on to it. In the distance, a wall of snow had flown into the air and was know tumbling back to the ground. For a moment, she debated what to do. The next moment, she felt Anaïs hand on her shoulder. Annabeth looked at her. 'You can't walk for that long.'  
'And you cannot check that out alone.'  
A few minutes later, they were walking around a hole in the snowy ground. Anaïs straightened her shoulders. 'Someone is doing something that Amos and his people would not approve of.'  
'So a magical crime.'  
'You could call it that.'  
'Hm. The real question is, why is someone making things explode so far away from civilisation? I mean, there aren't any nomes around here, right?' As soon as Annabeth had said it, she wasn't fully sure of it anymore. Anaïs shrugged.  
'Before I was imprisoned, no. Yet, the places of nomes change around quite often. It could be that one of the Russian nome changed their position.' She clutched her sides. Annabeth slid her arm around Anaïs' waist in order to help her stay up.  
She looked around once again. 'I would be happy if we were rescued from this place,' she whispered.  
After fifteen minutes of surveying the hole some more and starting to get a little desperate for food, water, and shelter, Annabeth heard something in the background. 'Wait. That sounds like a snow scooter, or something.'  
Anaïs strengthened her grip on Annabeth's' waist. 'That's because it is a snow scooter. Right over there,' she said, before pointing at a snow scooter that was coming at them at a speed that wasn't even wise to hold when you were in the great nothing they were in now.  
It stopped right in front of them. A man pushed the visor of his helmet up. 'What do you two think you are doing!?' The man asked. Annabeth straightened her back. 'You are no regular mortal, I sense. There was a mistake in the first nome. We shouldn't have been sent here. You can contact Amos about it. Actually, it would be quite nice if you contacted Amos about it, so he can get us out of here.' The man looked at her. His eyes trailed of to Anaïs. When he saw her, he looked surprised. 'Wait. Aren't you...'  
'Anaïs, fifteen years under the earth, recently found back,' she answered. The man seemed to think for a moment, before getting a wand and a phone out of his pocket. 'I'll call someone in. I can only drive one of you back to the nome at once, so the other will have to wait for them. Scratch that, I'll wait over here until they arrive.'  
He did. Annabeth shifted her feet. 'Hm. So magicians can use cellphones too, these days?' The man nodded.  
'Yes. Very glad with the invention of cellphones that don't attract monsters,' he answered. Annabeth nodded in agreement. 'Absolutely. During the great fight in Manhattan, we still had to fix some things on our own, until we collectively decided that there were so many monsters that it didn't matter anymore.'  
'The fight of Manhattan? So you are Greek, then?'  
'Yeah.'  
'We don't get a lot of greeks demigods around here. Einherjar, now and then, more often the children of old Russian gods, but not a lot of Greek people.' Annabeth didn't really know what to answer to that.  
'...well, I am here.' She felt a little relief when she heard the sounds of a second snow scooter in the distance.  
A small fifteen minutes later, they were back in the forty-ninth nome, in Siberia. The man - who's name was Dimitri - explained that there were three nomes in Russia. Annabeth felt like she shouldn't have been surprised. Russia was a big country - of course there would be multiple nomes. As soon as they answered the center where the magicians lived, Dimitri got back on the phone in order to contact Amos. Anaïs and Annabeth were led to the living room by another magician, who gave them both a cup of hot tea (Annabeth suspected there was some alcohol in it, but she didn't ask). Soon enough, the woman noticed that there were only five magicians currently living in the forty-ninth nome, which was smaller than they had expected.  
Dimitri came back with the message that Amos had started the procedures to make a new portal to Siberia. Annabeth sank back into the couch - that probably meant that she and Anaïs would either be picked up within a few minutes or a few days. The same woman who had given them tea was now examining Anaïs.  
'You are still weak from the imprisonment, I suppose?'  
'Yes.' Anaïs sounded like she was about done talking about that. Annabeth stood up.  
'Alright, but what about the hole? Do things like that happen more often?' She asked, to all of the local magicians collected in the room at once. Dimitri shrugged. 'Sometimes. More often these days. Both the people in the forty-eight and the fiftieth nome have no idea what it is, either. We have even contacted the sixteenth nome in Mongolia, but they don't know what is happening either.' Annabeth took a moment to read the room. All of the magicians really looked like they had no idea why magic was acting up. Annabeth felt something tickling inside of her. Like she wanted to fix the issue right here and now.  
She stopped herself. This was an issue for the Egyptian magic society - not the greek department. If she were to try and help out, there was a big chance she would only make things more incomprehensible...   
'...I am planning on asking Amos to contact your camp leader, though. It doesn't feel like pure Egyptian magic...' Dimitri continued. Annabeth turned towards him. In the hallway, she heard something - probably Amos stepping out of a new portal.   
'I think we need to leave,' She mumbled.  
'What?'  
'I think Amos has arrived. If everything you just said... if you really get into contact with Chiron... you'll hear from me.' Dimitri gave her a weak smile and nodded. He shook Annabeth's hand. Annabeth put her hand out to Anaïs to help her up, so that they could quickly join Amos as soon as he stepped through the door.

'Hey, Amos?'  
'Annabeth?'  
'If you ever get the message to maybe contact Chiron about Greek help with weird magic in Siberia, I'll volunteer.'  
'That doesn't sound very voluntary.'  
'It isn't.'   
Amos looked at her. 'The mortals have it better, don't you think?'  
Annabeth nodded. 'Yeah. I fully agree.'


	156. To Be A God Or Not To Be A God

Three Days Before Lester Turns Back Into Apollo  
Lester was sitting in a room in the Apollo cabin, listening to music on an old Ipod he had gotten from Will. 'And she's buying a stairway to heaven...' he mused. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For a moment, life was peaceful.   
The peace was disturbed when he heard loud knocking on the door. He already knew who it was. 'Yes, come in, Meg,' he muttered, while Meg was already in the room and walking up to the bunk bed he was sitting on.   
'Why are you wasting time in here?'   
Lester stared at her. 'What do you mean? People do this all the time!' he answered.  
'Yes, but you won't be a mortal for very long. Zeus will talk to you this thursday, right? And it is basically one-hundred percent sure that you are going to be the...' - she sighed deeply and waved with her hands before she said the next sentence - 'The great and magnificent Apollo.' Lester could hear the sarcasm dripping off of her voice.   
He got the headphones of his head. 'That only means I am going to get enough time to do everything I ever wanted again!' He exclaimed. 'So what!? I fought angry emperors! Let me listen to music! I do what I want! I...' he stopped rambling when he saw Meg's' face. She looked equal parts sad and angry.  
'I... Sorry, Meg,' he muttered. Meg walked towards the door.   
'It's... alright...' she muttered. Lester could hear that she had a lump in her throat. He pushed his headphones away and caught up to her. 'Meg! Is there... are you sick?!'  
Meg turned back to him. 'Do you think so?' She asked, which shut Lester up. She stood in front of Lester and stared at him for a few seconds, before she threw her arm around him. Lester blinked.  
'Promise to at least visit once or twice?' Meg asked, with her face awkwardly squashed against Lesters' torso.  
'... Of course! Why wouldn't I?' Meg didn't answer. She turned around and ran out of the cabin, loudly slamming the door behind her.   
Lester looked around his cabin. Of course he wouldn't forget Meg, she basically became one of his little sisters! Why did she think he would forget her and the others he had met just because he became a god again?   
His eyes fell onto a nightstand. The one of his daughter Kayla. There was a picture of her and her father (Lester felt the blood rush to his cheeks a little when he saw it) and an Arrow. Lester recognised that Arrow. It was a special Arrow he had send her as Apollo. It Always hit it's target, no matter how far away a target was.   
Lester raised his eyebrows. He had send her that Arrow years ago, when she was about seven and he had noticed she had some potential for archery. He gave it to her so that she was guaranteed to get into a selection. Why was she still hold on to it? He gave her things more recently, right?' He closed his eyes. He was sure he send some more stuff. A magical pair of ballet shoes? No, he never had those in the first place. A cd with all hits from the coming sixteen years? No, he only had CD's with all songs from eighteen years from now. A ever-expanding band-aid! That was... Oh, no, that was Will, wasn't it? Lester put a finger on his lip. Wait, why hadn't she used it? Was it because... it was all he ever gave her?  
Lester sunk onto the floor. Oh man, he really did forget about important people, did he not? He looked through the cabin. He heard Jason's' last words in his ears: 'Please don't forget!' He looked at the floor. Then shook his head. No, no, he didn't want to forget. He wouldn't forget if he didn't want to! That was physically impossible! He wouldn't...  
He heard a knock on the door. 'Yeah?' he weakly answered. Dionysus peeped his head around the corner. 'Oh, you're here.' Lester looked at him and tried to smile.   
'Dio! Perfect! Say, you really love your kids right!? And you never forget them!?' he didn't even care that he sounded panicked. His smile melted of his face. Dionysus gave him a look that was both concerned and annoyed.   
'... We are god's, Apollo. It is difficult for us to keep track of everything. I try, I really do...'   
Apollo looked at him. '... You remember every single birthday of your kids, though.' Dionysus blinked. '...Yes. Except... in 1705... Amelia...'   
Lester felt a lump rise in his throat. Within seconds, he thought all of the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind for months: What does it mean to be a god? How could he be better? What if all of his progress was lost as soon as he stepped foot into the throne room?   
What if he did not want to be a god?   
Dionysus took a small step back when he saw that a few silent tears rolled down Lesters' cheeks. He stood still for a few seconds, before slowly walking towards him. Dionysus took Lester's hand. 'Hey... Apollo... what...' Dionysus shifted his hand from Lester's wrist to his shoulder. Lester responded by throwing his arm around his waist and burying his head into his shoulder, pulling them both down to the ground. He begun sobbing louder and louder, until he was nothing more than a crying ball of sadness. Dionysus held him close, feeling sixteen types of confusion.  
'...Apollo... Please, just... what is the issue? The Triumvirate is down, the Mccarphy girl is still alive and well, and you'll be an immortal again in no time...'  
'...th-th-that one!' Lester sobbed.   
'You mean you do not want immortality?' Lester didn't answer. Dionysus slowly pulled his arms back.   
'Oh, now, that was to be expected...' Lester stopped crying uncontrollably. He backed away a little to look at Dionysus' face.  
'What do you mean, to be expected?'  
'Oh, everyone who gets immortal after a while as a mortal gets really down after like two weeks when they realise what it is like, before they accept it and... get a little too big of a head. You didn't get that from me.' Dionysus straightened his shoulders. 'Give it a few weeks, things will be like this mortal form never happened.'  
Lester didn't know what to say for a few seconds. He stared at his brother, not knowing how to interpert his seemingly neutral expression. But... that's just what I am afraid of, that things will be like that. And that I will go back to forgetting my own children... he thought. He felt a single last tear run down his cheek. He swallowed and took a deep, deep breath. 'If... if, you say so...' He turned away from Dionysus, who said nothing. He had to deal with some demons of his own, for a minute. 'Thanks, Dionysus.'  
'...No thanks due, Lester.'

That thursday, Lester was standing outside the throne room of Olympus. He was holding his special ukelele. He had no idea why he brought it, but it gave a sense of comfort, so he was happy that he did. He was confused. Confused by the two emotions he was feeling: He felt powerful and happy on one hand - he was going to be a God again! Yet, on the other hand, he felt terrified. He needed to be a God again, and better this time.   
The huge doors to the throne room opened up. Lester felt a stint of panic and excitement. 'Lester Papadopoulos, you may enter!' He heard his father say. He took a deep breath, held on starkly to his ukelele and strided into the throne room.  
He never expected to feel so small. When he was still Apollo, he was always the belle of the throne room - the great, golden, radiant Apollo, whom everybody loved. Right now, he was a puny mortal, not sure of his life. He looked around the room. He caught his sisters' eyes - she gave him a rare, small smile, trying to signal him it was okay. He tried to give a small smile back, but it didn't go very well - he felt the adrenaline rush through his veines.  
'Lester Papadopoulos!' Zeus's voice boomed through the throne room again, scaring Lester and annoying the other gods. 'You have defeated the emperors of Rome. You have served a mortal, as I commanded. You have proven yourself worthy of being a God again! I shall...'  
Lester didn't hear the rest. His mind crashed at the words 'Worthy of being a God again.' He turned his head a little, so that he could look at Dionysus without fully looking away from Zeus. The wine god was studying his hands like they were the most interesting thing he had ever seen, but for a moment his eyes jerked towards Lester - and that was enough for Lester to realise Dionysus was thinking about Zeus's statement, too, and, more importantly, what that meant to Lester.   
Lester felt the doubt rise up in his chest. He had defeated the triumvirate, yes, but not without all the other demigods. Not without Jason, and Frank, and Reyna, and everyone else. And was that what made him worthy of being a god? Doing something that demigods did on a daily basis?  
It was too much. While Zeus was still holding his speech, Lester turned around and slipped out of the throne room. He heard the other gods gasp behind him.   
He held on to a garden fence close to the throne room. He felt strange. For months, he had wanted nothing more than this moment - the return of his divinity. Now that he was here, he felt like he was about to make the worst decision of his life.   
'Apollo?' Lester felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Dionysus standing behind him. '... I.... I cannot... Oh, Dio...'  
'Apollo, come back inside.'  
'...I can't. I physically can't.'   
He felt Dionysus lay an arm around his waist. 'I know.' Lester stared at his hands.  
'Yet, I can only advise you to get in there. Otherwise you might never know if you could be better.' Dionysus nudged his hand, before walking back into the throne room.  
Lester let go of the fence. A sharp part of it had cut into his hands, so it was bleeding a little. He thought of Dionysus words. He shuffeled a few steps further, so that he could see the main square. It was like the life rushed back into him. The lights numbed down his senses. He swallowed and turned around, so he was facing the throne room again. His legs were going somewhere, but it felt like he himself was somewhere completely different, he didn't know where, but he could smell a sweet, sweet scent. 

Meg was sitting in the strawberry fields. It was past curfew, but the harpees left her alone - maybe Chiron told them to let her think. Meg didn't care. She let a vine twirl around her fingers, but it didn't make her smile.   
She noticed a shadow falling over her. She turned around and got onto her feet. 'I liked the brown hair better,' She muttered, while looking at Apollo's golden locks.   
'Well, it isn't brown anymore,' he answered. They both looked at each other with neutral expression. 'You turned into a god,' she stated, before she shrugged and looked down.  
Apollo nodded. 'Yes.' He knew there was nothing more to say. He opened his arms. Meg stepped closer to him and let Apollo put his arms around her, but she didn't hug him back. 'I want to be better. I need to be better,' Apollo told Meg.   
'If you say so,' She muttered. Apollo noticed that she didn't sound very trusting. He let go of her. 'Meg...' He fell silent. Meg looked up at him.   
'Yeah, yeah, what?'  
'...I... I mean it.'   
Meg looked at the ground. 'What do you mean with it?'   
Apollo opened his mouth, but immediately closed it. 'I... I...' Meg took a deep breath. She grabbed his hand. 'You should start with making your mind up about that.' Apollo felt that a little smile grew on his face. 'Well, that sounds like it is not too difficult.'  
'Isn't that the main trap with art?'  
Apollo nodded slowly. 'Yes.' Meg gave him a nod. She still looked just as sceptical about the plan as Apollo felt, but suddenly she gave him a short hug, before walking towards the cabins. Apollo decided it was time to vanish. He did not have anything planned tomorrow - he might visit Meg again.


	157. Truth, Dare or not annoyig other pantheons?

'Alright, Hermes, I dare you to eat fifty pancakes in a minute!' Aphrodite shouted cheerfully. About half of the Olympians got a grim expression on their face. Those were the ones that had seen Hermes eat pancakes before. They knew you didn't want to see him devour them.   
Hermes grinned from ear to ear. 'Of course, Aphrodite!' He said. Aphrodite had a smile on her face, like this was going to be hilarious. It was clear that she expected him to maybe eat one and then the minute was over. A pile of pancakes appeared in the middle of the throne room.   
It was horrifying. Absolutely terrible to look at. Within seconds, half of the pile was gone. Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus stared at it with absolutely neutral expressions. They had gotten used to Hermes horrying eating speed. The rest of the Olympians either looked away, or couldn't tear their eyes away from it.   
Hermes finished the pile of pancakes in the new record of twenty-eight seconds. He turned to Aphrodite. She had one of her dainty hands in front of her mouth. Her eyes were large. She held up her other hand, got of her throne and slowly walked out of the throne room. The others wanted to do the same, but the excitement of the next truth or dare won it if the fear.  
Hermes looked around the room. 'Hm... Zeus!' Zeus almost dropped of his throne.  
'I am not doing anything!'  
'Hey, if you do not want to play along, then why are you in the throne room?' Hermes asked. Zeus looked around the throne room. It was very clear that nobody was going to take his side and also that everyone really wanted him to either tell an embarrassing secret or do something stupid. He turned towards Hermes.  
'Truth or dare?' The trickster god asked with a grin Zeus would love to slap of his face (but he didn't - bad PR and all).   
'... Dare,' Zeus muttered. Anything he would have to do would be better than whatever Hermes could ask him. Hermes looked at him with big eyes. 'I dare you to invite Hades to come to Olympus right now, appear in front of him in a purple tutu and sing opera.' Zeus snapped his fingers and disappeared out of the throne room, already thinking up ways to punish that stupid messenger for coming up with such nonsense.  
Inside the throne room, everybody either laughed or sighed. Zeus always disappeared whenever it was his turn to tell a truth or do a dare. Hermes, meanwhile, shrugged. he knew that what he had said was dumb, but also that it was funnier to see Zeus teleport away from something stupid than from some serious dare. He turned around on his toes and pointed at Dionysus instead, who suddenly wished that he had listened to Chiron and had helped with the grocery deliveries instead.   
'Truth or dare?' Hermes asked.  
'... Dare?' Dionysus noticed that he didn't sound very sure of his case. Hermes blinked innocently - which was never a good sign (Never, never a good sign, please remember that, it may save your life).   
'I dare you to go to Asgard and fight lady Sif.'   
Dionysus narrowed his eyes. '... Why Sif, though? Like, that's so...'   
'Will you do it!?' Hermes pressured.   
'Yes?' Dionysus gave him a look like that was Obvious.  
Yet, halfway over the Bifrost, Dionysus wondered whether this had been such a good idea. Hermes had been the person asking the question - there was definitely something going on with Sif today. Maybe Odin had given her extra powers. Maybe she had drank to much coffee that day and Hermes knew about it. Maybe the norns had appeared in front of her telling her to defeat everyone she met. Dionysus' brain started to work harder and harder as he walked past the houses on Asgard. Maybe she got a new, magic sword. Maybe...  
His train of (Not really serious anymore) thoughts was disturbed when Sif jumped around the corner and attacked him with a golden garotte. Dionysus did a few steps back, before making Grape Vines grow in between himself and Sif. He bought himself a few seconds, which he used to run around the house he was standing next to.   
Sif noticed what he was doing and ran around the house in the opposite direction. She was prepared to face him. Dionysus was planning on her doing that and managed to think of a confusion hex that sometimes worked on other gods as well (Madness magic is way easier to cast on mortals and demigods than on full gods. Yet, you probably could think of that yourself, otherwise Dionysus would be head god in charge).   
He was in luck and managed to confuse her for a few seconds. Yet, Sif knew who she was dealing with and managed to put her arms out before the confusion hit her, causing Dionysus' left hand to get stuck in the garotte. The god of wine managed to weasel his hand partly out of the rope before she snapped out of it.

'Boring,' Aphrodite muttered, up on Olympus. Poseidon rolled his eyes.  
'She's right. This is just an average sunday on the main square. Why would I spend time watching it for fun?'  
Hermes yawned. He had told Sif that he would let somebody go up to Asgard and that he would pay her fifty dollars if she attacked them, because it would be funny, but he didn't think it would take so long (The whole of two minutes at that point). He shrugged. 'Well, I'll just keep this one screen with them broadcasted on it. I have four back-up screens to broadcast other dares. Let's continue. Apollo, you're it!' Hermes darted back to his chair. Apollo's eyes lit up.  
He hopped off of his throne. Getting to ask somebody truth or dare and not having to do a truth or dare himself? The dream! He looked around the room. 'Oh, Athena! Truth Or Dare?' Athena looked at him like an angry cat looks at a laser pointer. She had never done a truth or dare before. The other gods knew better then to ask her. She shook her hair over her shoulder.  
'Truth.' Athena straightened her shoulders. Apollo looked at the ceiling, seemingly thinking deeply about what kind of question to ask her. 'Athena?'  
Athena felt doubt enter her mind, which she really wasn't used to. 'Spill, Apollo.'  
'Is it, by any chance, true that you had a fling with Ada Lovelance?' he asked. Athena turned as red as a tomato. 'Why... how... why would you think that?' She sputtered. Apollo pursed his lips and slowly shook his head. 'It's called truth, Athena...' Athena jumped up from her throne (Both Demeter and Artemis couldn't help but back away a few centimetres).   
She stumbled to her feet and started to power walk towards the entrance of the throne room. 'Alright, alright, it is true.' She turned even redder than before.   
'And... I have something important to do. In Slovenia.' She disappeared before anybody else could argue against that. When she was gone, it was silent for a few seconds. Softly, Hermes started clapping. The rest of the throne room started softly clapping along, so that the clapping got louder and louder, until it sounded like a small thunderstorm was happening in the throne room (Only a small one. There were three Olympians currently gone, after all).   
Apollo made a few bows, acting like he didn't manipulate the gods a little to get the applause out of the,. 'Thank you, thank you! Now. Athena has walked away, therefore I believe she has forfeited her chance to continue the game. Therefore, I will...'   
At that moment, Athena came tumbling back into the room. 'Oh! And, Apollo, Truth or dare?' Apollo was speechless for a moment. 'Wait, isn't that...'  
'Come, come, I haven't got all day!' Athena answered.   
Apollo realised that the other Olympians were staring at them. He wasn't going to get out of this. 'Eh... Dare?' It seemed safer to him. He knew Athena knew he stole Ares' rubber duck once and that that would have consequences if said out loud. So...  
'I dare you to steal Ares rubber duck out of his palace... again.' Apollo felt like slapping her, but angering both Athena and Ares at the same time wasn't a good idea. He had only one choice now. He ran out of the throne room like there was no tomorrow, to Ares castle, closely followed by Ares himself, ready to protect his rubber ducky. Athena looked around the throne room, with not many gods remaining now, shook her hair over her shoulder and vanished again, back to Slovenia. 

Apollo ran through Ares' hallways. He had never noticed how many weapons there were laying around Ares castle until he tripped over a few spears and almost landed in a pile of swords. He heard Ares get closer and decided to try out his luck by staying on the floor. Luck was with him that day and Ares ran past him. Apollo got up again and ran back into the hallway. He knew Ares kept his Rubber Ducky in his bedroom, right next to his bed.  
Ares was in his bedroom, next to his rubber duck. He couldn't let Apollo snatch it no matter the cost. He looked at his duck for a full five minutes, making sure it didn't disappear. For a second, he looked out of his palace' window. When he turned back to his ducky, it was gone.  
He jumped up and screamed with anger (His servants felt their hearts drop. One woman ducked under the kitchen table). Meanwhile, Apollo slithered out of the room as a beam of sunlight. He beamed back into his own palace, with the rubber duck. He threw the first closet he saw open and stuffed the duck in between three boxes of dried flowers. While he changed into a bird and flew out of the palace, he tried not to think of his special polar bear plush, that he got from a very special boyfriend, and what Ares could do with it if he found it.  
Of course, the gods didn't wait for Ares and Apollo to be done. They had continued and Hera had decided she had the right to ask somebody Truth or Dare. 'So, Hermes, truth or dare?' She asked. Hermes swallowed. Usually, he wasn't afraid to do any truth or dare the other gods threw at him, but Hera? That was something else. She could ask distructive truth or dares.   
'Truth,' he eventually chose. Hera took a deep breath. Truth? Hermes? She thought not. Yet, she had a question ready: 'Well, truthfully tell me how many times you lied during Truth or dare?' Hermes knew that couldn't be it. There must be something to that ask.   
'Eh... A few times, maybe?' Hera grinned like a madwoman.   
'That is against the rules. Didn't we say that if you lied during Truth you had to go and help a random other person? And couldn't other gods decide which person that is?' She turned her head towards the big screen that was still broadcasting Dionysus and Sifs' fight. Hermes took a deep breath and got of the throne. It wasn't the worst thing he ever did.

'How could you take nothing more than fifty bucks to try and attack me!? Where is your pride!' Dionysus yelled from the rooftop of somebody's house.   
'Ha! You're a fool if you think this is about the fifty quid, Dionysus!' Sif yelled back, from the city wall of Asgard (There was not really anything behind it. They had a wall for the aesthetic).   
'Oh? Is this about nothing but violence? My oh my, where is the world going...' Dionysus sniffed dramatically. Sif whipped her hair out of her face, equally dramatic.   
'It is about the principal of it, Dionysus. Other gods cannot just trespass onto Asgard. Somebody has to get them out of here!'  
'That is Heimdals job! Since when do you need to pick up other people's jobs to get by?' Dionysus pouted. Sif pulled a shiny sword she shouldn't own out of glamour.   
'Seeing as how you are here, Heimdall failed. Somebody has to pick up the slack!' She answered. She jumped onto the rooftop Dionysus was standing on as well. 'And I do not fail!' Dionysus jumped back and made Grapevines appear out of nowhere, so that the roof he was standing on broke (Note to self: Write apology letter, he thought, knowing he would immediately forget it).   
Hermes walked over the Bifrost. He really wasn't feeling like this today, but most of the other Olympians were supervising him - he couldn't chicken out. He waved at Heimdall when he walked past. The gatekeeper of Asgard didn't even care - Olympians running over the bridge was not threatening and he considered it Odin's problem.   
Hermes heard the other gods before he saw them. 'Sif, this is against so, so many rules!'   
'What rules are there in love and war, Dionysus?' he heard her answer. Hermes sighed deeply. He had completely disregarded Dionysus and Sifs' flair for the dramatic when giving this dare. Maybe this had been a bad idea. He decided that he would call off the game as soon as he was back in Olympus.   
He stopped walking when he saw Sif and Dionysus, who had gotten off of the roof (because there was no longer any roof to stand on) and were now both standing on the city wall. And with standing, I mean they were just standing, not fighting.   
'Is this what you do, though?' Sif asked. 'Just run into other pantheons and fight?'  
'It isn't of free will, Sif. I would never do that. That would be too mean to Frigg, who will probably have to put out the fire.' Sif accidently pulled another golden strand of hair out of her head.   
'Who is forcing you, Dionysus? You are an Olympian god. Is it Zeus? Because then...'  
'Hermes... I am bound to fight by ancient laws of...'  
'Truth or dare,' Sif finished for him. Out of nowhere, she suddenly looked sympathetic. 'Oh, man, I once had to go to Helheim and tell Hela that her realm had the worst ventilation I had ever seen. She got so angry... You cannot imagine...' Sif sunk to the ground.  
Dionysus shrugged. 'This isn't the worst thing I have ever done. I once was gone for ten years when there was a dare!'   
Sif shivered. 'Oh, horrible... I once went to a swamp. The smell didn't get out of my hair for days...'  
This was the moment Hermes decided to interfere. 'Hey! Hey! Dio! Do you need help!?' he yelled. Dionysus looked down from the city wall. 'No, but like even if I did I wouldn't have accepted it from you.'  
'Ouch.'   
'Yeah that hurts. How far are they?'  
'I am going to call it off. Can you tell me I helped out a lot so I don't break rules?'  
Dionysus thought about that for four really painful seconds. 'If you take the blame for the house over there,' he said, while pointing at the house with the destroyed roof. Hermes swallowed. Was it worth it?   
'Alright then, but you won't be spared during the next truth or dare!' Hermes answered. He turned around, and disappeared back to Olympus, knowing that it would be a matter of minutes before he would be running over the world, away from whoever that house was.


	158. Best Friends With Gods? Unheard Off!

Piper strolled through New York city, alone. She had just gotten back from a quick quest. She knew she should be calling Chiron so he could pick her up, but she didn't feel like it. She felt like taking a walk on her own, so she could sort her thoughts for a bit, and find something to eat along the way. She peeked at the shop windows, noticed there was a brand new Limited edition mascara - Drew would be after that soon - eyed the new releases in a book shop, slowly turned around and noticed a few dracaena standing outside a Taco bell across the street.   
For a few seconds, Piper felt torn - should she do something about it? Eventually her morals won it from her desire to have a lazy afternoon. She put her hand onto Katropris while walking to the nearest traffic light.   
The dracaena had entered the Taco bell when Piper had just crossed the street. She followed them into the Taco Bell. She noticed that the dracanea were trying to hide in the corner of the shop. Piper assumed the mist made them look like just three random old ladies, something nobody in New York (or in any other place for that matter) would pay attention to.   
Piper shuffled her way to the end of the queue. She could feel one of the dracaena staring at her. She knew she had been recognised. There were three people in front of her. She heard the dracaena getting closer. Slowly, she got Katropris out. She held it in the right position.   
As soon as she felt a slimy hand on her shoulder, she spun around on her toes and stabbed the dracaena right between the eyes. The monster dissappeared in a cloud of dust. Her sisters jumped up and hissed at Piper, who backed away a little. Suddenly, she felt a human hand on her shoulder. 'Help! Stop! This girl is attacking these older ladies!' The dracaena patted their dresses, trying to act like weak older women. Piper pulled her shoulder out of the strangers' grasp. She pushed a few people away and charged towards the other two dracaena.   
She was stopped by a man, who picked her up from the floor and held her in a harsh grasp. 'Call the police!' Piper heard someone yell. Oh no. She turned towards the man. 'Hey, won't you let me go? I mean, I was the one who was being attacked...' she softly charmspoke. The man put her back on the floor. 'Please, get a little farther away...' Piper mused. The people back away, giving Piper some space to think and plan her next move.   
She twirled around and launched another attack at the dracaena. Sadly, she missed, but she did give one of the dracaena the chance to get a hold of her and put her pointy fingernails closer to Pipers' face than the daughter of Aphrodite liked.   
Until the monster just... disappeared. Piper dropped to the floor. She blinked. A tall man covered in a cloak was standing in the restaurant. He waved his hands. Piper felt her muscles relax. She shook her head. The cloaked man reached for her hand and helped her to her feet. '...Thanks,' Piper muttered. The man nodded and smiled. He turned around, grabbed the muscled man by his shoulder, pushed him back and pulled a gun from his jacket.  
Pipers' mouth fell open. The Girl behind the counter took a few steps back. The cloaked man snapped his fingers. The muscled man was immediately gone.   
The cloaked person turned around to the cashier. 'Two taco supreme menu's, please, one vegetarian,' He asked her. Nobody complained about him skipping the line. The cashier rang the order up and yelled something over her shoulder at the people in the kitchen. She kept her eyes on the stranger the whole time.   
Piper had had enough. The dracaena were defeated, the people didn't seem to remember them, but she wasn't sure about whether they remembered that they wanted to hand her over to the police. She got up off of the floor and slowly backed out of the restaurant. She could get something to eat somewhere else. It was New York, there was probably a McDonalds or Starbucks right around the corner.   
'Hey!' She heard behind her, when she was a few feet outside of the Taco Bell. She looked over her shoulder. The cloaked man stood by the entrance, with the two taco supreme Menu's. He was looking at her. 'You were the girl fighting the Dranaeca's, right?'   
Piper first made sure that she could run before she answered. She gave the man a nod. 'Yes, that was me.' The man pointed to one of his Taco Supreme Menu's. 'I didn't order these just for myself, you know. Demigods need to eat, otherwise you won't have enough energy for monsters coming at you.'   
Piper tried to make a assumption about his character. As a daughter of Aphrodite, she wasn't bad it, but people are complicated and sometimes you ended up trusting or distrusting the wrong person. Yet, the guy had destroyed the dracaena, gotten the evil man that tried to strangle her to leave and was offering her a meal with some pretty sound advice she had also heard from Chiron. She decided that she might as well trust him. She was so close to both Camp Half-blood and Olympus that things could not go too wrong.  
'... Alright.' She took a few steps forward and took one of the menus out of his hands. 'Thanks.' She opened the box. She took a moment to take in the delicious smell of fresh tacos. 'Hey, these are actually vegetarian. I thought that was impossible, and that the cashier just didn't complain after everything that happened. The man shrugged.   
'Not much is impossible to me.' Piper blinked.   
'Well... Thanks,' she said, before taking a bite.   
While she was focused on her food, the man got a Phone out of his pocket. He swiped to the camera, but instead of taking a photo of something, he swiped further. His screen turned into a Rainbow, which started to leak out of the Phone, until it formed a steady bridge rising above the clouds. Heimdal put one foot onto the Bifrost, hoping to disappear before Piper noticed him.   
Piper decided to look up at the stranger for a split second. She almost dropped her taco onto the floor. 'Wait! You are... how... why... did you help?' Heimdal looked over, grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bridge, before any mortal could notice what was happening.   
'It is boring on here, alright? Technically, I don't have to watch out for Ragnarok until it is winter in Midgard for three years straight. Until that, I can go down to any realm I want to do whatever I want, which is often stop criminals at fast food restaurants so that the cashier gives me free food. And I helped you because I could.' Piper took another bite of taco.  
'Seems fair... I guess. Except that... eh...' piper tilted her head slightly, wondering how she could say in a nice way that gods generally don't help mortals out a lot much less share food with demigods.  
'Most gods don't do that? I just did.' Heimdal whipped his Phone out of his pocket and started scrolling on it. Piper took another bite of taco.   
They reached a t-junction, with one part leading to hotel Valhalla and the other leading to Asgard. Heimdals' stuff was laying around in front of it. 'You just let it lay out in the open like this?' Piper asked.   
Heimdal shrugged. 'Whether I take it along or I let lay around here, the residents from Hotel Valhalla will steal it for truth or dare anyway.' Piper ate the last bit of her taco.   
'They actually do that?'  
'Don't act like you Greeks don't steal stuff from Dionysus when he isn't looking.' Piper shrugged slowly, but didn't say anything. She softly snickered.   
Heimdall picked up his sword. 'Now. I'll continue standing around here now.' Piper looked at the empty box in her hands. 'That sounds... pretty bland.'  
'It is bland until I see someone attack the same McDonalds' in North Dakota again.' He pointed at a spot in America. There was a small McDonalds', laying just outside of a small town.   
'That sounds like they know you over there by now.'  
'They do.'   
Piper laughed. 'How did you know how I was vegetarian, by the way?' She asked. She didn't even noticed that she was talking to the god the way she would have been talking to her siblings in the Aphrodite cabin.  
'Freya told me. That one time you barged in here it left quite the impact. I think Freya might want you in Folkvangerm eventually.'   
'Alrightie then.' Piper looked down at Midgard. 'How come that you can see everything in such detail? I thought everything would be smaller.' Heimdal walked up to her. Together, they looked at Beijing, which was buzzing with people and vehicles. 'The air works like a magnifying glass.'  
'Fancy!' Piper put the box next to her on the floor. 'To be honest, this job doesn't even sound that bad. I mean, you can just see the ever changing world each day and get paid for it! What could be better? I don't think...'  
While Piper was rambling on on the bifrost, Jason, Percy and Will were sitting in the dining hall, waiting for both her and Nico to finally return from their respective quests. Jason stood up, walked a few steps, and proceeded to sit down again. He sniffed. 'Eh... they are surely taking their time, aren't they?'  
Percy slowly nodded. 'A little too much time. Does Nico Always take so long?' Percy looked over at Will, who was focused on sewing a hole in his camp half-blood shirt. 'Huh? Oh, yeah. Sometimes he ends up in these weird situations. It wouldn't surprise me if he walked into the infirmary at two A.M. and told me he fought a Dragon.'   
'Well, you might be alright if your SO missing, but Piper never takes this long!' Jason exclaimed. A few girls looked over from the docks. Percy stood up. 'I'll go get Chiron. Maybe he has heard something?' Will and Jason looked at each other. At least it was worth a shot...  
'As you see, I like to do some home decorating!' Danu, celtic goddess, told Nico, who was drinking a nice cup of tea and not at all bothered by the thought that there might be people waiting for him. 'I think it is great,' He said. 'It is even better than last time I visited the United Kingdom!' Nico took a deep breath.   
'However, I will have to leave soon. There are some things that still need to be done.' Danu smiled and nodded. 'Of course, of course.' She took the tea cup out of his hands. 'Glad you could come. Hope to see you soon!' She said.   
'Me too!' Nico yelled over his shoulder, while shadow travelling away to a new place.  
He should have paid more attention to what new place. The next thing Nico new, he was in hotel Valhalla, in a room where some people had decided to play knife tennis (Do you not know what that is? Lucky you. You still want to know? Just imagine regular tennis, but replace the balls with knives). Nico ducked. A knife soared over his head. On hands and knees, Nico crawled out of the room.   
Only to immediately enter a room where people were making Hot Pockets filled with lava (For no reason whatsoever, except that Odin said it was never allowed and therefore they had to do it). Nico jumped up and ran through the room, which luckily lead to the main hall.   
He got out before Helgi, the hotel manager, could really notice he had been there in first place. Nico jolted onto the bifrost, thinking of excuses he could use to trick Heimdal into thinking he totally had the right to be there. He didn't expect the protector of Asgard to be enjoying some nacho's while Piper Mclean was telling a story.  
'... Piper? What are you doing here?'  
Piper looked up. 'Neeks! Is something wrong?'  
'No. Yet, I thought other demigods didn't socialize with gods.'  
'I wasn't planning to,' Piper said, shrugging. Heimdal looked at Nico.  
'No, you aren't allowed to walk on the Bifrost because it is the only way you'll get your chocolate to camp half-blood before it melts,' he said. Nico pouted. He had only used that excuse once!   
'I need to walk on the Bifrost in order to... deliver a newspaper.'   
'No, better excuse,' Piper answered.  
'What do you know?' Nico mouthed off at her.   
'She's right, I need a better excuse, otherwise I'll have to ban you from the Bifrost forever,' Heimdal said, while standing up. 'I am getting fed up with your excuses!' Nico smiled.   
'Eh... yeah, yeah, I, eh...'  
'You accidently ended up here because you shadow travelled the wrong way, didn't you?' Piper asked. Nico gave her a sour look. '...yeah.' Heimdal gave him a stern look in return.   
'You can pass through this time, but don't let me see you here again!' He told Nico. Nico smiled sarcastically.   
'Yeah, thanks, lord.'   
Piper put his arm around his shoulders. 'I should be leaving too.' She bowed her head towards Heimdal. 'Thanks for the food.'  
The god pushed a pass into her hand. 'Here. that way you can enter the bifrost whenever you want.' Pipers' eyes went big.  
'...Alright, thanks, lord,' She said, too surprised to think of something better.   
Heimdal smiled at her, before turning his eyes back to Midgard. Piper pulled Nico along. 'Come.'  
'What the heck did you do today?'  
'I decided to make some immortal friends as well,' Piper answered. 'So you are not alone.'  
'You so did not decide that and instead it just happened!' Nico said back.  
Piper nodded. 'You're right, but does it really matter? Come, we need to go to camp!' Nico sighed deeply. He walked along with Piper, back to camp Half-blood.  
They walked into the dining pavilion, hoping there was still a small bit of food left. They didn't find any food. What they did find was their significant others (And also Percy) still sitting in the pavilion, wondering when they were finally getting back.   
'Piper!' Jason was the first one to spot them. He ran up to his girlfriend and squashed her in a bear hug. 'Gods! Where were you two? Did you get lost on a new quest!?' Piper hugged Jason back, while trying to shake her head.   
'No. We made some friends in heaven.' Jason stared at her.  
'...What?'  
'What I said.' Jason stared at her. Will put away his sewing work.   
'You'll get used to it, Jason,' He muttered, before grabbing Nico's hand and pulling him along.  
Percy stood by the side. 'Alright, I guess that quest Chiron told us to do will have to wait until tomorrow?' He asked to the void.


	159. We Got To Fix Siberia

'I made you some sandwiches for on the way,' Percy said, while walking into his cabin, where Annabeth was dressing up to go to Siberia (The Athena cabin was full of her curious siblings. Not a very peaceful place to change clothes). She pulled her sweater over her head and turned around. 'Thanks. My backpack is next to the shelf.' She stretched. 'Man...'  
'You'd rather be doing anything else?' Percy finished the sentence for her.  
'I'd rather be doing anything else than go to Siberia and help some magicians fight something I don't know anything about,' Annabeth agreed. She reached for her coat and put it on. 'Also, these clothes are way to warm for the Long Island weather.' She took a deep breath.  
Percy put every sandwich, except for one, into Annabeths' bag. He took a bite out of the last one. Annabeth was staring into her own soul in the mirror on the wall. 'He knows, you know,' She mumbeld.   
'What?'  
'Amos. He knows I would rather be doing anything else than help out with another pantheons' magical issues.'  
'I think everyone knows that, but that he also knows there is no other way. We're all in the same boat, after all.'  
'The gods seem to be blissfully ignorant.'  
'The gods, the gods,' Percy mused. 'Don't worry about them.'  
Annabeth turned her head around. 'I'll be technically traveling with one of them - Carter comes along,' she muttered. She put her hands on her hips. 'I'll see how it goes...'  
'Like usual.'  
Annabeth turned around and kissed him on his cheek. 'Like usual, but with more people this time.'

'Annabeth, keep your hands in your pockets!' Zia scream-whispered, while the whole group was crowding around the dinner table in the nome in Siberia. Dimitri was giving people tea and coffee. Annabeth gave Zia a weird look, but she listened to her.   
Which was the wise thing to do, because a few seconds later someone threw a cloth over the table. 'Oh, sorry, guys,' One of Dimitri's magicians muttered. 'I forgot to put a cloth over the table.'  
'Why was there burning dust on the table in the first place?' Somebody else asked, while putting her tea cup down. Annabeth made a weird noise. 'That's why you told me to keep my hands away?' She whispered to Zia. Zia nodded.  
'Yeah. Be careful, everything can be dangerous in the magic world.' Zia patted her on the shoulder. Annabeth grinned. 'Now that is something that isn't alien to me.'   
Dimitri slammed his hands onto the table, getting everyone's attention at once. 'Magicians, Annabeth. We have a goal and that is finding out who is causing the explosions, poisonings and other magical maladies around the area.' He paused for a second, with his expression completely serious. 'I have invited the Mongolian and other Russian nomes over to help us out, but I do not know how many of those will actually arrive here. They might have issues, they might have forgotten the message, they might just not want to come.' Dimitri shrugged. 'Those things happen.'   
Dimitri got his hands of the table. 'We will leave in twelve hours. That gives you all enough time to eat, sleep, shower and whatever else you need to do.' He tugged on his sleeve. 'I see you all tomorrow in the middle of the living room, with all your stuff ready and nothing that still needs to be done.' Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. Dimitri gave them all a weak smile. 'I would start preparing if I were you.'  
Exactly twelve hours later, the doors of the nome opened and twelve magicians and one Annabeth walked out into the cold and barren land. Three magicians stayed behind in the nome, behind the computers, to monitor the land and their actions for as far as that was possible.  
Annabeth looked around. Her demigod senses were alarming her, but she did not know what to focus on - Egyptian magic was too different from greek magic for that. Yet, the magicians seemed to understand what was going on. Or at least Dimitri and Anaïs did.  
Dimitri stopped walking when they reached a small river. Slowly, he sunk to one knee. He got his wand out of his pocket and murmured something to himself. One of the magicians from his nome pulled out her wand as well, aiding him. Annabeth looked over to Zia, who took a step closer to her.  
'I am pretty sure they are trying tracing magic. I don't know why Zelma needs to help Dimitri, though.' Annabeth swallowed. She slowly shook her head.  
'Already hoping you didn't apply?'  
'Maybe.' In front of them, Dimitri scrapped his throat. A trail of footprints appeared in the snow.  
'It is not really that someone walked here, but the footprints are a recogniseble way of marking it. Also, the spell makes magic stronger, so that you might be able to feel it too,' Zia whispered to Annabeth. Annabeth gave a quick nod, before they all continued to walk.   
An hour? Two hours? Later, they found a slope in the taiga. Dimitri turned around.   
'Here. We all feel it, right?' The people in the group looked at each other. Yes, they all felt it. Even Annabeth felt the strong magic radiating off of the slope. Dimitri pulled out his wand again. 'Alright, the tracing magic is doing it's job. Zarah?'   
The other woman of Dimitri's nome pulled out her wand as well. She whispered a spell, which made the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning something along the lines of 'Levitate' appear. The whole group went a bit of the ground. Annabeth stretched out her arms in a reflex. Zia quickly grabbed her hand, to try and keep Annabeths' body straight.

Together, they slowly descended down into the slope. Zia held onto Annabeth, who had to admit she was a little nervous about levitating on magic she didn't understand. Yet, they all reached the bottom of the slope in one piece.   
Dimitri took a look around. 'Right,' Anaïs said firmly. Like one unit, everyone turned to the right. Annabeth put her hands into her pockets. She didn't trust anything in the icy slope. She made eye contact with Carter for a moment. He didn't look like he was feeling much better than she was. Zia, on the other hand, looked like she was sure of the case, and that made both of them feel better.  
After four minutes of investigating, Carter made a sound. 'Hey! That light over there!' He pointing slightly further into the ravine. And, indeed, there was a weak green light shining from deeper into the cave. Dimitri pointed his wand toward it and muttered something again. A blue hieroglyph lit up. When it disappeared, he turned around and nodded towards his group.  
'We are going that way,' He announced. Nobody complained.   
Annabeth believed they had to be a kilometre or three away from where they had descended into the cave when Dimitri held his hand up to stop them. 'Wait.' He looked at Anaïs, who didn't even bother to get out her wand. Instead, she made small circles with her hands, until a part of the wall turned see-through. She put her hands on her hips. 'If there is anybody there, they won't be able to see us,' She told the crew. The crew was mesmerised. Behind the wall stood a huge black machine, which looked like someone merged a telescope and an MRI-scanner.   
'It radiates magic,' Carter whispered. He shivered. Annabeth felt it very weakly, but imagined it must be worse for the magicians.   
Dimitri's facial expression got even more serious than it had already been. 'I have never seen anything like that. I didn't even know there were people that use this type of heavy machinery combined with magic.' Annabeth stepped closer to the window in the slope.   
'It looks like it is a cannon. To blast magic somewhere, maybe?' She suggested. Anaïs took a long look at the machine. 'Could be. Although that is not something we magicians usually do. Magic does not work like Greek fire.' Annabeth shrugged.  
'Why not? There is probably a spell that when combined with this machines can create something like Greek Fire.' Dimitri's eyes narrowed.  
'Now, she's saying something...' he muttered. He looked at the machine for a second, before shaking his head. 'We need to go on. Reach the machine. Figure out what it is.' He looked at Anaïs, who put her hands close to each other. The window in the ice became slimmer. Yet, when Anaïs walked further down the hallway, the window followed her, so that they could keep a close eye on what happened with the machine.  
Anaïs held halt after fifteen something minutes. She made the window bigger. 'Look. There is something in there.' Zelma straightened her back.   
'I see them too. We need to move on - otherwise they'll do who knows what.'  
'Besides, now we can catch them in the act!' Carter commented. A few people nodded. Dimitri shrugged. 'We'll see. But yes, we need to walk on.'  
Annabeth leaned closer to Zia, while the whole crew walked further, quicker than before. 'Is it a one-way window?'  
'Yes, of course. Otherwise they could see us. Anaïs isn't stupid,' Zia answered. Annabeth looked at the floor. 'Yeah, you are right. Just checking.'  
'Sounds like a greek thing.'  
'Untrue. The norse check everything everyone does too.'  
Annabeth, just like the others, kept a very keen eye on the person behind the window (Which had gotten slimmer again, as Anaïs had continued walking). She could see very little, as the person stood half behind the machine. Yet, it was clear they were trying to do something there. Something that Annabeth assumed she didn't like and something that would probably be dangerous for the rest of the world.   
The person tapped their feet on the floor a few times. Annabeth narrowed her eyes. 'Hm. If they have the time and focus to tap their feet, they probably did whatever they are doing before' she mentioned. Dimitri slowly nodded his head up and down and started to walk slower for a second. 'Could be. Could be a nervous habit. We must go, quickly!' He answered, while he sped up again.  
'Wait, no!' Zelma pointed at the wall. 'Over there.'   
'What...' some other guy began. He was interrupted by Carter pulling out his wand and performing a unlocking spell. A hidden door in the ice flew open.   
Nobody wasted any time. Dimitri and Anaïs were the first ones to run inside, followed by Zelma and Zarah, after which everyone else followed. Annabeth entered last, in order to try and not stand in the way.   
The person behind the machine looked around. They looked horrified. 'Who are you!?'  
'I could better ask that to you!' Dimitri asked, with his wand at the ready. 'You have entered my nome.' The person got a grim look on their face.  
'So you must be Dimitri.' The person whipped out their wand. 'Too little, too late,' they whispered. 'We are almost done. It cannot be reversed!'  
Anaïs looked at the machine. 'You have put a time hex on it.'  
The person narrowed their eyes. Within seconds, he send a curse Anaïs way. With little to no problem, Anaïs blocked it. Moments after that, she send a spell towards the machine.  
Zarah was the first one to notice. She quickly send her own the spell in the machines' way - a weak magic blocking spell. Zelma joined in with something else Annabeth did not even recognise.   
It all went so quickly. The machine got destroyed in front of the opposite Magicians' face. Their mouth fell open, before he slammed a button on the little desk he was working on.  
You didn't need to be a genius or an Egyptian magician in order to realise what was going to happen next. A magician came running through the door, wand out. Without hesitation, he pointed his wand at Annabeth and casted a spell.   
Annabeth ducked into the group of magicians. She fell to the floor. Around her, the magicians started to fire at the incoming troupes.   
Only when the sounds around her dumbed down a bit, she put her head up. Bad idea. It just got quieter because someone cast a deafness spell. Annabeth pulled her knife out. She looked around, seeing if there was literally anything she could do without getting hit or standing in the way.   
Not in battle. A magical Melée was no place to be in for someone who had no access to Magic. Yet, she did notice something behind the now broken machine that could be of use to her. That thing being a frame for a portal, a device with which even a regular person could open a doorway from one place to another, as long as there was another portal frame on the other side. As soon as they were out of the room where the fight was, they could make a portal to the nomes' hideout, from which they could go on with destroying the machinery and the base that must be around it.   
Slowly, she crawled over the floor, towards the portal frame. She had to admit, she did not really know how it worked, but right now was not the time to think about what she did. She slammed a few buttons until the portal lit up. She said a little prayer to Athena, hoping it was the right button.   
She turned her head around. Zia saw what she was doing. Low to the ground, she ran towards the portal, pulling Carter and the other person next to her along. Slowly, the whole group started to notice.  
Sadly, so did the opposition. While the magicians (and Annabeth) started to climb through the portal, a few of them tried to come along. Anaïs was able to get a few of them of their backs, before she climbed through the portal as well.  
As soon as she was through, Annabeth hit the reset button, which made the portal stop working immediately. She turned around. 'Good thinking, Annabeth,' Dimitri said hastily. He sounded like he was almost out of breath. He looked afraid. His eyes shot around the room, trying to locate where they were. Within a few seconds, he regained his confidence.   
'Alright. Zelma, Zarah, Marina, try to make another portal, so you all can go back. Anaïs and I will locate the other people and try to capture them, after which we contact Amos.' The group grunted a little, while everyone gave their consent to the idea.

Annabeth sunk into the couch. Zia sat down next to her. 'Good idea, that with the portal.' Annabeth shrugged. 'It was a little unwise. Yet, it seems to have worked.' They heard a beep a few metres away. One of the magicians who had stayed behind the monitors picked up a Phone. 'Hello, fifty-second nome here, phoning first nome, can I speak to Amos?... Yes, they have captured them... Yes, please be quick, Anaïs isn't feeling very good.'  
Annabeth took a deep, deep breath. 'Guess I was right,' she whispered, while knocking on the couch three times. Zia grinned when she saw it. Annabeth smiled back, but her smile swiftly got smaller. 'I hope Anaïs is doing alright. I can imagine she feels uncomfortable back under the ground.' Zia slowly nodded.  
'Probably. I also hope they have a way of getting that monstrous machine out from under the floor.'   
'I wonder how they did not notice it was there for so long,' Annabeth said, while someone gave her a cup of tea.   
'It wasn't very long,' Zia muttered. 'The problem was there for three weeks when we arrived, and it took them four weeks to find the place the katalysator somewhat was.' Annabeth just nodded, while she took a sip of tea. She was tired and the problem was difficult. If she had to be honest, the only thing she wanted right now was to go back to Camp half-blood and give Percy a good, big hug, as a sign that everything was truly over.


	160. Nico Made It To Heaven

Nico did not feel like opening his eyes. He had a vague memory of falling asleep in the strawberry fields, but he knew he had a fifty per cent chance that he would be somewhere completely different. He did not feel like being in a different place or maybe even time and having to somehow find his way back to camp half-blood.  
He opened his eyes after a few minutes of not falling back asleep. He immediately closed them again. He slowly rolled onto his stomach, before re-opening his eyes. 'Bright...' He moved onto his knees. While squinting to not hurt his eyes to much, he took a look around. The place was ridiculously bright. Nico looked up. The sun seemed to be sixteen times brighter than it usually was. Nico looked around again. Was he really in a place that wasn't camp half-blood? Was there maybe just something with Apollo? Did he drive into Ra's Sunbark or something?  
No, he was definitely in a different place. He noticed a large, white wall. He was sitting only a few feet away from it. On the other side of him were gorgeously placed clouds, with small houses on them. He saw a few people walking around the place. Some were wearing long, white robes. Nico frowned when he saw two large rings with wings flopping around. It seemed like there were a million eyeballs on the rings.  
Nico's eyes suddenly went big. Large, floating rings with eyeballs? That sounded a lot like a type of angel. He jumped up. His eyes still weren't completely used to the unusual brightness, but he decided he needed to go investigate the place right at this very moment.  
As soon as Nico saw the pearly gates, he knew he was where he thought he was: heaven. He took a deep breath and sat back down on a nice patch of grass. He didn't really care about how he ended up here - he was more concerned with getting out of the place without being tossed into Hel.   
'Young man! Get off of the grass!' he heard someone say behind him. Nico quickly jumped up, before turning to the person behind him. 'Sorry for that - How do I get back to earth?'   
The person raised their eyebrows. 'I am sorry?'   
'I need to get back to earth,' Nico enticipated.  
'That's impossible. Once you are dead, you are dead, young man! Be glad you are in heaven rather than in hel!'   
'I am not dead, though...' Nico muttered. The person raised their eyebrows. They took a little while to take a look at Nico. 'Now that you say it, you do not look very dead. However, you still have an aura of the afterlife around you.'   
Nico shrugged. 'That sounds about right.' He rather wouldn't tell someone who seemed to be a worker of heaven that he was a son of Hades. Too big of a chance he would be tossed into Hel.   
The person put their hands on their back. 'If you would please follow me, we can go to the administration and we'll see what to do with you.' Nico realised he didn't have much of a choice. He nodded and followed behing the person.   
'Are you an angel?'  
'Yes.'   
'So this is really heaven, then? Wow. I mean...' he stopped talking. He probably shouldn't say he had seen a lot of other afterlives. '...I mean, it is gorgeous, you know?' The angel gave him another thoughtful look, as if they didn't know what to make of him. 'The lord has designed his realm to his liking.' Nico didn't answer to that. He knew most underworld deïtes weren't allowed or able to do that, but he probably shouldn't say that either.  
The angel led him to a large, white and gold building. 'This is the administration of heaven,' the angel informed him. 'Please follow me inside.' Nico eyed the building suspiciously. There was no way this was going to be easy and quick.   
The angel lead him to a desk, with another angel sitting behind it. They were staring at their screen and tapping on the keyboard in a way that made Nico suspect that they were playing Pacman instead of doing whatever their job was. The first angel knocked on the table.  
'Hey, hello, Vic?' Vic jerked their head up.  
'What?'  
'I got someone for you.' Vic's hand hovered above the keyboard. Too bad, that way they lose the game, Nico thought. Vics' mouth fell open. 'There is... actually a problem with this ones placement?' they asked. The first angel nodded impatiently.   
'Yes. Do your job, Vic.' They turned around and walked out of the administration building, leaving a very confused Vic and a Nico who was starting to get curious about where this was going.   
Vic quickly clicked some tabs away. 'Eh... alright. So, you think you are placed in the wrong place... which happens, but...' Vic looked around the room. Nico understood it: why would he want to leave heaven? 'So, what's you're problem?' Vic asked, sounding unsure of themselves.   
'Oh, I am not dead.' Vics' eyes basically rolled out of their sockets.  
'Eh... that is not supposed to happen.' They frantically tapped on their keyboard. Nico sighed and stepped behind the desk. 'Whatever, you can finish the level first. I can help you.' Vic blushed.   
'Eh... alright.' He opened one of his tabs, which, in fact, had Pacman up and running. Nico got a grin on his face. Now, he rememberd this game from the Lotus Hotel. He was good at it (He had beaten Dionysus that one time. The wine god had bribed him with priviliges to keep quiet about it) Vic started the game. 'Alright, go left,' Nico told them.   
When they made it five levels further, Nico decided that maybe he should try getting out of here before Will would get to worried. 'Alright, we should continue with getting me out of here,' he announced. Vic seemed a little distraught. 'What? Oh, right, you, eh... want to get out of heaven.' They looked like they could still hardly believe it.  
They went back to the other tab. 'Ehm... than I need to get to the website,' they muttered to themself, trying to ignore Nico as the son of Hades climbed over the desk in order to get to the right side again.  
'You do not do this particulair thing a lot, do you?' Nico asked them. The angel shook their head. 'If I can be honest, I haven't had to do anything for this job since the year 985,' they said. Nico raised his eyebrows.   
'What happened in 985?'  
'The goddess Amaturasu wanted to go to her own heaven and ended up here.'  
'Sounds like one hell of a week.'  
Vic looked a little uncomfortable when Nico said 'hell,' but they nodded anyway.  
'Eh... yeah, it was quite the nuisance.' They tapped a few keys.  
'Alright. What did you say your name was?'  
'Nico di Angelo.'  
'Di angelo? Are you sure you...'  
'No, I am not an angel and I really need to get back to earth,' Nico insisted. Vic shrugged.  
'Alright. I guess you are a homo sapiens...'  
'Yup.'  
'Alive...'  
'Correct.'  
'What magical world do you belong to? Don't worry if you do not...'  
'I am a Greek. Son of Hades.'   
Vics' eyes went big.  
'Oh, that might explain something...' they typed something again.   
They stared very intensly at the screen for a few seconds. 'It says here... I need to bring you to my supervisor.' Nico sighed deeply. Great. He had the feeling he was going to see more supervisors in one day than that one time he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time during somebody elses attempt at shoplifting.  
Vic got up from their desk. 'Eh... follow me,' they told Nico. Nico slowly started to move along.   
'Here. Just knock on the door and you'll be helped eventually,' Vic told Nico while pointing at a door the size of a gate. 'Thanks,' Nico whispered. Vic smiled and walked back down the hall, to his computer, in order to see if he might be able to win at Spider on his own.   
Nico knocked on the door, waited for thirty seconds, and after that just walked in. In his days as a traveller through the magical worlds he had learned that nothing that can happen in a room you weren't authorised to be in can be worse than having to wait an eternity for that door to maybe open.  
Some dude was sitting behind a grand desk. There was a window in the background, which showed the gorgeous sky behind him, but also cast looming shadows around the room.   
'Name and reason you are here?' The supervisor asked in a low voice, without looking up from his report.   
'Nico di Angelo. I am alive, want to go back to earth and Vic the desk worker send me over here.'   
'Vic did what?'  
'You heard what I said.' The supervisor looked at Nico from behind the massive desk. Nico stared right back. He wanted to go back to earth now. He would even swear on the gods that he would never take a nap on camp grounds again if it meant his weird involuntary travels would be over.  
'... you are alive and want to go back to earth. That should not be too difficult.' Nico narrowed his eyes. Oh man, this was going to be especially difficult.   
'I hope so.'  
The supervisor typed something on his computer, before standing up from his chair and reaching for his phone.  
'Di angelo.'  
'Yup.'  
The Supervisor put the phone to his ear. 'Hello, Marie?... Yes, I am sending one over right now... Di Angelo... alright, he'll come now.' He put the phone down again.   
'Walk out the door, go to the right. The door is open. Marie will find your name. Then you come back.' Nico slowly nodded, before strolling back out into the hallway.  
The hallway was long. So long, even, that Nico decided to stop by a random other room. He knocked on the door, before just flinging it open. 'Hello, is there a Marie around her somewhere? She does names and stuff,' he asked. The angel behind the desk looked like someone had just told him the world was about to end. '...who... who are you!?'   
'The supervisor send me. I need a Marie?'   
'... thirty doors to the left!'  
'Alright, thanks,' Nico said, before walking out.   
He found the right door, which was, in fact, open. He knocked on the open door. 'Hello...'  
'Di Angelo? You are slow!' The angel walked to a closet and got out an enourmous book. 'I need the second A volume.' Nico didn't argue with that. The woman begun to flip through the book, which seemed to take ages and ages...  
Nico dozed off a little, but was violently shaken awake when the woman said: 'Over here is your name. You are, indeed, alive.' Nico nodded.   
'Yes.'  
'And so you must go back to earth right this instant.'  
'Yes, please.'  
'I will send it back to the Supervisor. Go.' Nico got up, turned around and walked all the way back to the supervisor.   
'So you really need to leave the place?'  
'Yes, sir, please.'   
'Than you will leave this instant. I will have to ask you to wait for a second.' Nico opened his mouth to start an argument about the meaning of the word 'instant,' but he decided not to at the last second. The supervisor reached for his phone again. He dialed a new number with a big, white hand, slower than he had called Marie. He kept looking at Nico the whole time he was doing so.   
'Hello, Diane?'  
'Yes?'  
'I have one who needs to go back to earth.' It was quiet on the other side of the line for what felt like way to long.  
'There Actually is one who needs to go back to earth.'   
'Yes, Diane.'  
'Alright. Wait for just a second.'   
Exactly a second later, a dark haired woman wearing glasses stepped into the room, through a door that appeared in the wall. 'Well, well, well...' she looked at Nico, who got ever so slightly uncomfortable.   
'I'll get him back to earth, then.'  
'Thanks, Diane,' the supervisor said, while putting the phone back down. Diane grabbed Nico by his left arm and tugged him along.  
'I do not bring a lot of people back to earth. To hell? Sure. To earth? None in the last eons.' Nico shrugged.   
'Well, I didn't want to end up here alive.' Diane looked at him from over her glasses.   
'... Apparently not.' Nico blinked, but decided not to ask anything. He had had more than enough of it all.   
Diane led him to a weird, blimb-sized flying machine. 'I need to drop you off in... camp half-blood. Well, alright then.' She gestured Nico to step into the flying machine. Nico would have rather not, yet slowly walked into the flying machine - What choice did he have?  
When he was inside, Diane appeared in front of him. 'Please don't stay in the hallway for too long. Better yet, just follow me to the wheel and I can keep an eye on you. She turned around, clearly expecting Nico to agree to that. And Nico did, because he truly didn't feel like arguing against it.  
The room with the steering wheel was gorgeous. Nico looked out the windows, which were lined with gold. Diane started the machine. Without a bump, it got of off the surface of heaven.  
About eight minutes later, they were passing darker clouds than before. Nico felt a little better knowing that he would soon be back on earth. He felt slightly worse when Diane suddenly hit him in the back of the head, but that feeling soon dissappeared, as he fell unconsious.   
The first thing he saw when waking up was Wills' face. 'Ow.'  
'It's alright, Nico. Come, here is some water.' Will helped Nico to slowly sit up instead of lay down, and after that to take a few sips of water. Nico took a deep breath. 'I swear to the gods that I am never taking another nap somewhere random in camp half-blood if it means never waking up somewhere I don't want to be again.' Will chuckled and kissed Nico on his forehead. 'That sounds like a great idea to me.'


	161. It's A Holly, Jolly, Christmas

'You know...' Percy looked at Annabeth, but left the words lingering in the air.  
'What, Percy?'  
'I do not understand why they call it the Holidays, implying vacation and free time, when it is literally the busiest time of the year. Deadlines are getting dangerously close, you have to prepare Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas feast and who knows what other parties, monsters that only come out around this time of the year are more vicious than any other monster type and that is only what I can think of at the top of my head!'  
Annabeth thought about his words for a moment. 'You know what? You might be right.'  
It was partly their own fault they were so busy, though. Percy and Annabeth had volunteered to do the holiday shopping. Now that they had promised it, they were stuck with it.  
Yet, not all was busy and sad. Percy looked into the shop window of a toy store, that had a whole christmas display up. It was quite literally impossible to not get into the jingle mood. And that from only one shop window - multiply that by at least a thousand and you got New York during the holiday season.  
Annabeth looked at her list (Which she had more made in order to not forget what they needed and less because they needed to stick to it, because let's be real, when you are bombarded with ugly ornaments from everywhere, how can you not buy them?). 'Alright, we will need ingredients for the Christmas feast and presents for... well, everyone.' She took a deep breath. 'Let's just see how far we get with that. We can always order some last minute things via Amazon.'  
'I do not think Hylla is willing to ship to me anymore,' Percy commented. Annabeth looked at him. 'We will cross that bridge when we get there. We can always use Pipers' Amazon account. Oh, look!' She pointed at the window of a used book shop, which had a book about planes in the first world war laying on the right side. 'That would be perfect for my dad! Let's get in!'  
Percy breathed in through his nose, so he could really take in the delicious smell of books and gingerbread. 'Well, this gives the right vibes.' Annabeth got the book out of the shop window. 'Yep.' She turned around. Her eyes immediately lit up. 'Hey...' She pointed at a book standing in the shelf behind Percy. Percy pulled it from the shelf for her. He laughed.   
'Perfect for Magnus?'  
'Excellent for Magnus,' Annabeth agreed, while she took the book called 'Dishes, Folding Socks And Other Dangerous Adult Activities' and turned towards the counter.   
'I wonder if that person knows that he is writing the truth and nothing but the truth,' Percy remarked. Annabeth shrugged.  
'Maybe it was written by a resident from hotel Valhalla, or a thane, or the hotel manager, or Odin himself. You never know,' Annabeth answered. Percy grinned.  
'I think that the authors' name wouldn't sound so real. I mean, Oliver Martins? I think someone from Asgard would have made up a name like Jack-Jack Jackson, or Katniss Everdeen, or Coco Cola or something.'   
Annabeth shrugged. 'Fair enough.' She handed the cashier fifteen dollars. She slid the books into her bag. While walking out of the store, she grabbed Percy's hand. Percy smiled at her. Together, they walked out of the store. The old lady behind the counter rolled her eyes at these naïve, romantic young people - man, did she miss being like them.   
Also, how could they help it? The Christmas atmosphere not only has something magical, it has something irresistibly romantic. It is like a little bit of Christmas movie leaks out of the television and into the real world. Percy let go of Annabeth's hand to link his arm through hers. Softly, he put his head on her shoulder. Annabeth sighed deeply.   
'It is one of those days again, isn't it?' She asked Percy.   
He nodded. 'Yeah. One of those calm, weirdly romantic days... Oh, look, a chocolate store! I need to buy chocolate for my mother, and for Hazel.' He put his head up. Annabeth gave a nod, before kissing Percy on his nose. The twinkle in her eyes suggested that the Christmas spirit was starting to get a hold of her.   
They stepped into the Chocolate shop. Annabeth closed her eyes for a moment, so that she could really take in the wonderful smell of chocolate, caramel and other ingredients. 'What kind of bonbons were you looking for?' She asked Percy.  
'Hazel really loves hazelnut filling - Yes, really - and nougat and my mom likes all chocolates,' he answered, while taking his place in the line. Annabeth noticed he was scanning everything in the store, like he was seeking something besides just chocolate for Sally and Hazel. Yet, the next moment her attention was attracted by a castle made of the chocolate in the middle of the store. 'Oh! Percy! Look!'   
Percy looked over. 'Wow... that is magnificent!'   
'Sir, can I help you?' The cashier asked. Percy swiftly turned his attention towards him.   
'Yeah, eh, I want two boxes of bonbons...' while Percy was ordering, Annabeth wandered off to the masterpiece made of chocolate in the middle of the store. It hung about two metres in the air, on a platform. There were also fans turned towards the castle, all so that it wouldn't melt because of the heat in the store.   
She looked at it for a while, until she heard Percy call her name. 'Annabeth?' Annabeth shuffled past the other people in the store, towards Percy. She grabbed his hand on the way out.   
When they stepped outside, Annabeth ducked back into her sweater. 'Gods, it's cold!' Percy put his arm around her shoulders. 'We'll have to walk close to each other,' he said, matter-of-factly. Annabeth smiled at him. 'Yeah, you're right,' She answered, while cuddling closer to him.  
'I think we should go to the toy store next - I need something for Estelle,' Percy softly said. Annabeth slowly nodded. 'We're close to Times Square,' She answered, as if that wasn't clear from the large amounts of people everywhere. 'We can go to the large toy shop there. I need something for my brothers,' she mused. Percy snuggled even closer to her.  
'We'll do that,' he said.

No matter how old he got, Percy would always feel excitement rise in his chest whenever he entered the huge toy store on Times Square. Yet, how could he not? It was five floors of a child's dream!  
Yet, Annabeth was even more excited, if possible. She tugged Percy along, to the escalator. 'Come! I need Legos!' Percy grinned. Of course Annabeth immediately wanted to run towards the legos.   
'Yeah, but we'll need to go to the baby toys, too,' he quickly remarked. Annabeth nodded impatiencently. 'Yeah, yeah, we'll get there!' She said, while she basically ran up the escalator.  
Percy had to admit: the Lego section of the toy store was amazing. 'Hey! Look at that!' he yelled, while pointing at a giant Star Wars space ship that was on display near the side of the Lego section. Annabeth looked at it. 'Yeah, that is pretty well-built,' she commented. 'Yet, I accidently got a huge Lego star wars set a little while ago.' She took a deep breath while thinking of a past adventure with Magnus. Percy patted her on the hand. 'Yeah. Guess we will have to buy Ninja Lego,' he answered.  
With a nice Ninja lego set they walked towards the baby toys. 'I want an octopus plush,' Percy announced. Annabeth looked around for one second before she saw a blue octopus, with glittering highlights on the tentacles. 'How about that?'  
'Perfect.' Percy picked up the plush. 'Alright, that was quick. Guess we have time to look at the Playmobil.'   
Annabeth nodded. 'What else could we do?'  
Way too much time later, they walked out of the toy shop. 'The sky is getting gray,' Annabeth noticed. 'Maybe we should go to the supermarket and go back to your moms' place after that. I'd rather not get stuck in a snow storm in the middle of New York.' Percy gave a single nod.  
'Yes, good idea. But I insist on finding the Supermarkt with the most tacky Christmas decorations,' Percy answered. Annabeth grabbed his hand with hers, although she was already carrying a bag in that hand.   
They found it. A large supermarket with a million wreaths, Candy canes hanging from the ceiling, and a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the shop (How did they fit that in? Don't know, but it was awesome). Percy joyfully pulled out a cart. 'Let's go. We need about ten different vegetables, rabbit, olive oil, potatoes and a whole lot more things that I forgot about.' Annabeth pulled the crumpled list out of her pocket.   
'Here, I have the list,' she said. 'You are completely right - we need about a hundred more ingredients on top of everything you just mentioned. Let's start with the milk, shall we?'

Fifty-something minutes later, they walked out of the store, with bags full of food and other supplies for the Christmas dinner. 'How many people is your mom cooking for!?' Annabeth huffed. Percy thought for a second.  
'It depends, really. Like, for at least ten people who are guests, and then she cooks for a whole bunch of people who are short on money or are homeless.'  
'...Does she do that every year?'   
'Since we got enough money ourselves. Last year, she offered it to the nearby homeless shelter. I do not know if she goes to the same place this year.'   
'Wow. You never told me that. What a... great thing to do.' Percy leaned closer to kiss Annabeth on her cheek. He could not hold her hand because of all the bags they were carrying. 'Yeah, it really is.' A smile grew on Annabeth's' face. It was the best thing she had heard all day. Not just 'great.'   
They arrived back at Percy's home, helped Sally with unpacking all of the ingredients, put their presents away and retired to the living room with a hot cup of cocoa. Percy sighed deeply when he dropped onto the couch. Without Annabeth noticing, he shoved something under the pillows. 'Well, that was a nice shopping round, right?'  
'Yeah, except that I will have to order a lot of things online again,' Annabeth answered, before taking a sip of her hot cocoa. She took a deep breath. 'Yet, the aesthetic makes it all a lot better.' Percy leaned against the pillow. 'Hm-hm.'   
He took a long, five second sip, before slamming his cup down. 'You know what? I am not going to be able to keep this a secret until Christmas.' He pulled the thing he pushed under the pillows out from under them. 'Here. I bought this for you today.' Annabeth blushed and smiled a little. She got a small present from under her sweater. 'I got you a little thing, too.' They exchanged presents.  
Annabeth peeled of the wrapping paper. 'Oh, wow...' There was a box in the package, in the form of the Parthenon. It was filled with some of her favourite chocolates. 'Thank you so much, Percy.' Percy grinned while looking at his small whale plush.  
'No, thanks to you, Annabeth,' He told her. Annabeth put down the box with chocolates and moved nearer to Percy. She wrapped her arms around him. He did the same thing, so that they fell backwards onto the couch. Annabeth felt at peace. It had truly been a peaceful day. No monster attacks, no-one needing their help. Just this once, as if the universe was in the Christmas spirit as well.


	162. The Universe And All It Knows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, a piece of not very happy news: I am going to stop writing one-shots every week. I have noticed that it began to feel like a chore to me - I do not enjoy writing fanfiction right now. In the next five weeks I will upload the stories I have already written. After that, I might write a one-shot now and then when I get a good idea or a funny suggestion (don't hesitate to keep sending those!), but I am mostly going to focus on original fiction. Thanks for reading my stories for a year and a half and have fun with the stories I will still upload!

Percy got suspicious as soon as he begun to feel a little bored. That feeling meant that within a few minutes something bad was going to happen. As a demigod, the universe never gave you a moment of peace. He still felt disappointed when it turned out his suspicion was correct. As he ran out of his cozy cabin to fight a pack of Hellhounds that had broken into camp, he wondered why this couldn't be different.  
He slowly stumbled back to his cabin. On the way, he noticed Nico sitting on the docks, staring into the water. Percy looked at him for a moment, when he was suddenly struck with an idea. 'Nico!'  
Nico kept looking into the water while Percy came running over to him. 'Hm?'  
'You... go on some wild trips in your sleep now and then, right?'  
'I try not to. It is stressful for me, Will, Chiron, probably Dionysus and who knows who else.'  
'Oh. Eh... I was wondering, do you think there are triggers for those trips?' Reflected in the water, Percy saw that Nico's expression turned to annoyance.  
'What do you want, Percy?'  
'...If the situation ever arises, could you ask the Universe to please give us some rest every now and then? A moment of boredom without monsters, gods and other calamities popping up?'  
Nico rolled his eyes. 'Not going to happen. Bye, Percy.'  
'Sorry. Bye, Nico,' Percy muttered, before continuing on his way to his cabin. Nico stayed by the docks. What a stupid question. Like he wanted to travel to the weirdest places in the universe. Like he could ask the Universe itself to stop doing weird things. Nico doubted the universe was sentient. He looked at the small waves on the water, created by the kanoes. They were somehow calming. Nico felt his eyelids getting heavy, so, so heavy...  
Percy fell backwards onto his bed. He hadn't wanted to upset Nico. He let out a sigh, followed by a yawn. All of the running around made him tired. He closed his eyes. He could do that, it was only for a second...  
When Percy opened his eyes, he was laying next to Nico, on a bridge. He jumped up and looked around, feeling bewildered. The bridge was made of white marble and lead from one side of a cave to another. Under them, Percy heard the roaring of a wild river. He could see a Majestic waterfall on his right side, dropping more water into the river far below.  
Percy looked at Nico's body. The son of Hades looked like he was asleep. 'Nico? Eh...'  
'Shhh. Go back to sleep. Maybe it goes away.'  
'Eh... what? We are in an underground cave. Have you been here before? I...' Nico slowly opened his eyes.  
'Oh, you ruined it already.' He stood up. 'This is the first time somebody has actually travelled along with me in my sleep journeys.'  
'Are we... asleep?'  
'Don't know. Our bodies might still be in camp, or they really are here. Come, let's go figure out where we are and how we can leave, so that we do not have to linger around any longer than necessary.' Nico looked around the cave. 'We should go to the right side of the cave - I see something shiny over there.'  
'That's... that's just how we do?'  
'Yes, that's just how we do,' Nico answered. He did not wait for Percy to give his opinion on the matter, but instead just begun to walk to the right. Percy followed him, even though he could not see anything shiny himself. He decided to trust Nico on that one,  
'Oh, would you look at that,' Nico said a few minutes later. Percy did not know how Nico had seen it, but there was indeed something shiny on the right side of the cave. That shiny thing was an altar that reached to Percy's knees and slightly above Nico's knees. It was covered in silver, gold, rubies and emeralds.  
'Did we walk into a cult?' Percy looked around the cave, feeling like they could be attacked by a gang of insane cultists every moment.  
'Could be. Although I think we might be in the lair of the universe, taking our conversation earlier into consideration.'  
'The... the what?'  
'The lair of the universe. It's the place where the conscious of the universe resides. I thought it was nonsense, but hey, I am used to nonsense being actually real by now.'  
'Wait... So we can ask why they keeps sending foes at us whenever we try to have a quiet moment?'  
'I mean, if we want to have a smaller chance of ever getting out of here, or at least getting out alive, we should totally do that!' Nico answered, while rolling his eyes. He walked closer to the altar.  
Percy followed suit. 'Are we supposed to do something with it?'  
Nico looked around the cave. There were no passage ways or pathd other than the one they had come from. He shrugged. 'I do not think so. Yet, I want to look on the left side. See if there is something there too.' He turned around and strolled back to the bridge. Percy followed him again, the way a duckling trails behind its mother.  
'Eh... not to irritate you, but it sounds like the river is roaring louder than before.' Nico's eyes narrowed. He looked over at the waterfall. 'It don't see any change.' He shrugged and continued to walk to the left side of the cave.  
There was nothing there except for a mirror. Percy looked away - he had learned the hard way nothing good ever came from mirrors. Nico, on the other hand, did not care. He looked straight into his own face in the mirror.  
'Hm. Well, I guess the universe isn't in here,' he remarked after about ten seconds. He shrugged.  
'You looked straight into that mirror without knowing what enchantments might rest on it.'  
'Yes, I had little choice.'  
'You could have not looked in it!'  
'I Always try everything. The more you try, the quicker you get out, I noticed.'  
'If you say so.' Percy thought for a few seconds. 'How about we go see if the river has indeed gotten louder, so we can see if that means anything?'  
Nico grinned and rolled his eyes at the same time. 'You are starting to get it, but still have a long way to come.' Percy shrugged slowly, not really sure how to react to that.  
They walked back to the bridge again. Percy could hear clearly that the water had indeed gotten louder, yet the waterfall not closer. Nico narrowed his eyes.  
'I can hear it too, now. Yet, the waterfall is still in the same place.' He looked down at the river under them. 'Eh, Perce...'  
Percy looked over the side of the bridge as well. 'Oh yeah, the water level has definitely risen. I... guess I did not think of that. Waterfalls are often louder than rivers.' Nico nodded, more because he was somewhere else with his thoughts than because he understood.  
'I see something in the water.'  
'What? I do not see any... Oh, gods, is that supposed to be there?'  
'No idea. This is also the first time I come here.' Percy stared down at the figure in the water. It looked slightly like a sleeping human face. The eye-like shapes were closed, the mouth was just a little opened and looked a little like the opening of a cave. Percy could very vaguely see something in the shape of a body under the 'head.'  
'Do you think...'  
'Might be. Although I did not expect the concept of the universe to look like just a regular human.'  
'It does not look like a regular human to me.'  
'Usually, mystical beings do not look this humanoid!'  
'Alright, alright, if you say so...' Percy's voice trailed away when the sound of the river got even louder. Neither he or Nico knew what to say while the water level of the river rose in front of their very eyes. Percy instinctively walked back a small bit, but he made sure that he could still see the river and, more importantly, the figure in the river. He felt like screaming loudly when their eyes opened, but no sound came from his mouth.  
Nico stared intensly into the water. He could not tear his eyes away from what was happening under him. The eyes slowly opened up and stared right at the ceiling, just past both his and Percy's heads. The water wrinkled for a bit, before the universe was clearly visible again.  
When they finally focused their eyes on Percy and Nico, it was dead silent for a few seconds. The large eyes seemed to take in everything they saw - they were slightly more purple than the rest of the figure, which was blueish. The pupils were vibrantly purple. Percy could not tell what they were feeling - the face was not expressionless, but had characteristics of every emotion at once.  
Eventually, Nico took a deep breath. 'Hello, lord. My name is Nico di Angelo, and this is Perseus Jackson. Nico slowly kneeled down. Percy followed his example. He bowed his head.  
They heard a deep sigh, which thundered through the cave. Percy looked up. He yelped and crawled back a little. Nico looked up. His jaw tensed, but he did not back away. The face of the universe was now reflected in the waterfall, which started to flow harder.  
They heard another sigh. Nico got up from his knees. 'We came here by accident.' Another sigh. The universe slowly shook their head. Percy took a deep, shaky breath. He got up as well. 'I... I am to blame, probably. I...' his voice trailed off. He saw that Nico looked at him with concern in his eyes. Oh, no, that did not mean anything good.  
'I... Stress, I guess... Did not...' Percy tripped over his own words. The universe did not budge. They seemed to lean slightly closer to Percy and Nico.  
Nico stepped in. 'He had a question. About... the monsters?' Nico knew he sounded unsure of himself. He looked over at Percy. The son of Poseidon took a deep breath again. 'Yes. I did.' He thought for a second - it did not seem like a good idea to tell the universe he did not think they would take him seriously. Yet, he did not have to say anything else - the universe nodded. The unsaid words in their eyes said that they knew. They were the universe - they knew everything.  
Nico and Percy understood at the same time. Slowly, Nico sat down on the bridge. Percy followed. He took a very deep breath. He closed his eyes and let all of his thoughts seep out of his head, which went way, way easier than usual - maybe the universe was helping out a bit. For a moment, he felt like all the stress had left his body and soul.  
When he reopened his eyes, he and Nico were on the docks in Camp Half-blood. Percy realised he felt at peace. He looked up at the sky. The stars were gorgeous that night. Right above him, he could see Zoë, hunting forever in the stars. A small smile grew on his face.  
The feeling started to leak away a little after a minute or ten. Percy turned his head towards Nico. 'That... was an answer, right?'  
'Yes, that was all of the answer they are going to give us.' Percy looked back up at the sky.  
'Thanks, my lord,' he whispered to the stars. For a second, it seemed like the stars changed their pattern, so that they formed the face of the universe.  
'What do you think the answer is?' He gloomely asked Nico.  
'Only time will tell. Maybe... maybe they understood us.'  
'I feel so sleepy.'  
'Yeah, me too.'  
Percy shifted for a bit. 'What did the altar and the mirror mean, though?'  
Nico shrugged, which was quite difficult to do while laying down on the dock. 'I think they get some offerings from other gods, like with Hestia, you know? And the mirror... I don't know...' Nico's voice trailed away a little. '...but it probably means something.' Percy could only give a quick nod, before his eyelids became too heavy.  
They woke up in the infirmary. Annabeth was sitting on Percy's bed, looking at Nico and Will, a few beds over. When she noticed Percy was awake, she gave him a small smile. 'How are you feeling, seaweed brain?'  
'... alright, weirdly enough. Calm.'  
'Good to hear. Just take some more rest, and after that I want to hear everything that happened, because... the world feels a little different today. It feels like all monsters have gone back into their lairs. Like... today will be a day for relaxation.'


	163. Hospitals Are Weird

'I do not want to.'  
'You have to.'  
'Why can't you help me?'  
'Because I do not have the right tools available, or the knowledge for that matter!' Piper stared at her companion, who was sitting next to her in the bus, clutching his left arm.  
'Will would have had the right tools available.'  
'Yes, because Will is a healer. I am not.'  
'And because of that I have to go to a strange, British hospital in this weird British country!?' Piper bopped her head up and down. 'Yes, Nico. Yes. Because otherwise your arm will stay broken and there is no way you have enough energy to shadow travel us back to Camp while you have broken bones.' Nico sunk deep into the chair for a few seconds, until he accidently leaned against his arm and shot right up again. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. '...Alright. You might just be right. Maybe.'

 

Nico looked at the hospital with a grim expression. 'I just remembered I cannot go to the hospital...'  
'They won't ask you about your Insurance. It's England. Also, camp will pay the bill.'  
Nico raised his eyebrows. 'How do you know that?' Piper didn't answer. She just slowly shrugged. 'Just... a hunch.' Nico's lips curled up a little.   
'What happened, Pipes?' he sing-songed. Piper didn't answer. Instead, she pushed Nico through the hospital doors. The desk lady slowly looked up at the new people who came walking into the ER. She internally rolled her eyes. Whatever, she had seen weirder things than a girl pushing a laughing boy with a broken arm through the door.   
'Hello. We need emergency care,' Piper told her. The desk worker typed something onto her computer. 'What is your issue?'  
'I broke my arm,' Nico answered. The woman typed something again.  
'Name?'  
'Nico Di Angelo.'  
'Do you have an ID?' Nico gritted his teeth. Piper quickly pulled her own ID out of the pocket of her jacket. 'He must have lost it when he fell and broke his arm!' She charmspoke. She had no choice. The secretary's eyes got glazy. 'Alright. Thanks for your ID,' she answered, before yet again typing something.  
They were immediately send away, to a room further in the hospital, where they were told to get a number and wait until Nico could get an X-ray. 'Man, how many people break something at... Ten P.M.?' Nico questioned. Piper shrugged.  
'Quite some, apparently. Although I think there are other reasons to get an x-ray than just breaking something.' Nico sunk deep down into his chair, this time making sure he did not accidently hit his left arm. He closed his eyes for a moment.   
Nico woke up when Piper nudged his good arm. 'Nico! Wake up! It's your turn!' She softly pulled him out of the chair, making sure not to hit his broken arm.   
'...What? Oh, right.' He noticed a doctor standing by an open door. He and Piper swiftly walked over to her. 'Eh...'  
'Nico Di Angelo?'  
'Yes.'  
'What happened?'  
'I fell down the stairs and broke my arm.' The doctor looked at him and Piper just long enough for them to start thinking she knew something else had happened. Yet, she let them into the room without further questions.  
'Alright, this is not dangerous,' she told Nico, before turning around and telling Piper 'Please stay behind the screen.'. Nico narrowed his eyes.  
'You say it is not dangerous, though,' he said, sounding suspicious. The doctor looked like she had heard that over and over again. 'It is dangerous when you have to often work with the radiation, not when you are subjected to it only once,' she answered. She sounded like she was saying a mantra. Like she had been saying it for her whole career. Probably, because Nico stopped asking questions.  
'Hm. It is a pretty broke,' the doctor told Nico while they were looking at the photos. 'Yet, it will still have to be put into plaster,' she continued, 'You will have to go room G546. It is not very far away.' Nico sighed deeply.  
'Alright. Thanks,' He muttered, before walking out. Piper gave the doctor a quick smile before dashing after Nico. 

 

'...I feel something.' Piper's eyes narrowed. 'And I do not like it.' Nico slowly shrugged.   
'I think your demigod sense is noticing the ghosts.'   
'...There are... ghosts... in here?'  
'Of course there are. People sometimes die in hospitals. Horrible, of course, but it happens and Hermes has apparently not visited the British hospitals to collect the spirits in quite a while. Oh, I should tell my dad that, probably.'  
'I like the 'probably,' as if you shouldn't do it as soon as you possibly can.'   
'Yeah, yeah, these ghosts literally have all the time in the world, you know.'  
'Won't it be bad for the people who are still alive in the hospital?' Piper felt a little weird when she said it. She probably wouldn't have spoken about ghosts in a hospital with a tone like that a few years ago.  
'Hm. Maybe. I'll have to check that.'  
Piper rolled her eyes. 'No wonder there are so many ghosts hanging around in the hospital. It sounds like the paperwork in the Underworld is a mess, if nobody has even told you what seems like basic information.'   
'You are completely right. Now, let's ignore the ghost standing next to the door on the left and get a nice plaster casket around my arm, right?' Piper took a peek at the door to the left. She didn't see anything, but still walked by the door quicker than she usually would have.  
'Do you want a colour for your plaster?' the second doctor asked Nico, who shook his head.  
'No, white is fine,' he answered. Piper raised an eyebrow. She expected Nico to pick black plaster. She got even more confused when Nico told the doctor that that way, he could draw on it.  
'Do you like to draw?' Nico shook his head.  
'No, but there is a kid in the Apollo cabin who is a champ at drawing skulls,' Nico answered, with a big grin. Piper rolled her eyes. She should have known. 'At least ask him to draw regular bones. That is more thematically appropriate.'  
A few minutes later, they stood outside of the room where Nico got his plaster. Piper stretched. 'Alright, that took a lot less time than it would have in the states and I would be lying if I say I am not surprised.'   
'I am hungry,' was Nico's only comment.   
'Me too. I say we get something to eat first before we try to shadow travel over the Atlantic ocean,' Piper answered. A lazy smile grew on Nico's face while they walked to the elevator. 'Sounds like a great plan.'  
Just as she wanted to take a bite out of her veggie burger, Piper's demigod senses went off again. She put the burger back on her plate. She noticed that Nico was doing the same, but with his hotdog. 'That... that feels a little strong for a regular ghost,' the son of Hades commented.   
'It is still a ghost, though?' Piper scanned the cafetaria, but she did not see anything weird.   
'I am not sure.' Nico leaned in to take a bite of his hotdog anyway. 'We better find out.' With his hotdog still in his right hand, he stood up. Piper got up as well, but not before shoving a hand of fries into her mouth and wrapping her burger into a napkin (what? Demigods need energy to do all of this stuff).   
'I think it comes from the left wing, over there.'  
'Hm. I believe that that is oculist' wing. You know, eye-doctors.'  
'I know what an oculist is,' Nico snapped, while stuffing the last part of his hotdog into his mouth. 'I just want to know why... something hangs out there. People have a tendency not to die while they are getting their eyes checked and ghosts cannot get their eyes fixed, so by that logic the thing we are picking up on is not a ghost.'  
'What if it is a very stubborn ghost who flatout does not care about logic?'  
'They never do,' Nico slowly (and slightly angry) answered.   
Piper peeked around the corner, at one of the empty oculist' chairs. 'I see nothing.' Nico pushed her away to take a look for himself. 'Huh, same... Wait.' his eyes narrowed. Piper stared at him, trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. 'Miss! Hey! You can go to the left, then to the right, and there's the underworld!' It was quiet for a few seconds, before Nico continued walking. 'She's gone.'  
'She walked past me?'  
'Yes.'   
'Oh.'  
'Don't think to much about it.'  
'Auch Yikes!' Piper put a hand in front of her mouth.   
'That was a weird sound.'  
'Look at that, Nico!'  
'Oh, gross! What is that thing?'   
'I do not know, but it is not clean enough for a hospital.' Piper pulled out Katropris. 'So let's exterminate it!'   
Nico did not need any more encouragement. He concentrated on his sword for a moment. It materialised into his right hand. Together, Piper and Nico charged towards the gross, green, slimy monstrosity that was smearing it's goo all over the place.   
Piper stabbed it's gooey, blobby body. A few seconds later, Nico slammed the handle of his sword onto where he assumed it's head was as hard as he possibly could with just one arm (he couldn't possible try to slice or stab it). Yet, nothing happened. It didn't fall apart into tiny dust particles. Highly annoying. Piper and Nico ran away from the (now furious) thing like they were Ding-Dong ditching. 'Alright, alright, alright, new strategy!' Piper gasped.   
'Strategy? What are we, romans?'   
'We must think like romans for just a moment. I don't think it will hurt.'   
'You think.'  
'Look, I cannot be sure, alright! Now, enough with all the craziness. I will try to hit it right in... where I think it's torso is. You hit it in the back with your sword handle.'   
'We really do not know anything about that monstrosity, do we?'   
'Your confidence is heartwarming, Neeks. Now let's get that thing!' She made a U-turn right in the middle of the hall, just slow enough to hear someone coming towards them. She sped up just a little more when she heard it, which was in hindsight a good idea, because it gave her just that little more momentum while hitting the slime thing right in the chest. Nico ran right past it, before turning around and hitting it in the back.   
Somehow, it worked. The monster disappeared into a cloud of dust. Nico lowered his sword. 'It is truly easier to fight with more than one hand,' he commented, before laying a hand onto Piper's shoulder. She put her arm around his waist. 'I am... just a bit tired,' Nico said softly.   
At that moment, A doctor walked around the corner. 'What is happening!?'  
'We... eh, we got lost. He needs a bed,' Piper blurted out, putting a little bit of charmspeak into her voice. The doctor's expression became blank. 'Yeah, of course, why didn't he get one earlier?' he asked. Piper only shook her head, while the doctor helped her with keeping Nico on his feet.   
Nico took a deep breath. 'Alright. Let's go back home tomorrow.' He cuddled under his blankets as well as he could with one arm in plaster. 'Sleep tight.' Piper took a deep breath. She had gotten a bed on the other side of the room. She padded towards it. It felt like all of the energy was flooding out of her body. Before she could even take off her shoes, she fell asleep, on top of her blanket.


	164. Train Down Deathtown

Nico took a bite out of his peanut butter & jelly sandwich. He looked out of the train window, even though there was not a lot to see - not that he had expected to see much. This was a train riding through the afterlife, not through the luscious forests and mountains of Austria.  
However, what was not interesting outside of the train, was more than made up for by everything that happened inside of it. Nico had been seated for about five minutes now and already he had seen six devils, three people whom were so covered he couldn't even tell what they were, two hellhounds accompanied by two sweet looking ladies (Who were, underneath the layers and layers of mist, actually two vampires), a very confused Egyptian Ba and a few other characters that he had already forgotten about.   
Nico yawned, with part of his sandwich still in his hand. During the yawn his eyes closed for a second. Just a second, but it was enough for one ghoul who had been floating up and down the aisle to snatch the rest of the sandwich straight out of Nico's hands, before booking it down the aisle. Nico jumped up as quickly as he possibly could. He pushed one of the vampire ladies away in his attempt to catch up with the ghoul. It was no use. The ghoul jumped through the side of the train, with Nico's sandwich. All Nico could do was stare longingly out of the window.  
But not for long. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Nico did not look around, but he pushed the person behind him straight in the stomach. The vampire lady hissed, but when she cowered because of the push, she left an opening between herself and the aisle. Nico sprinted past her, dodged her giant hellhound and ran to the door of the compartment.  
Just as Nico sprinted out of the compartment, the train doors slid open. While saying a small prayer to Tyche, he jumped out of the train and bolted down the platform, to the station hall. He ducked into a small café. Only then did he dare to look over his shoulder. He did not see the snooty vampire lady, no huge hellhounds, no other people looking for him. He took a deep breath. Great, now he had no sandwich, he was in a weird café and he needed to wait for the next train to Hades. Man, he should have just gone via the entrance in his cabin.  
While he was ordering a cup of coffee, he wondered why he went by train in the first place. Did he think it was easier? A bet against the Stolls? Excitement? he completely forgot. Well, no way back now. With his cup of fresh coffee (Which tasted like garbage. What did you expect from coffee from a ghost kiosk?) he walked back to the platform. He slowly sipped the warm substance while checking the time the next train would arrive. Forty-five minutes.  
He sighed deeply while he walked back to the station hall. He did not feel like staring at the ghostly shop windows in the cold station hall, surrounded by everything that hung out in the station in between multiple afterlives, so he went back into the café. At least it was a little less cold.  
After a few minutes of waiting (which felt like a few hours of waiting) he suddenly noticed two familiar ghosts walking into the café. He jumped up.  
'Castor, Lee, what are you two doing here?' He asked, while walking towards them. He noticed that the two ghosts looked like they had been caught while doing something they should not be doing. Nico could not help but compare their expressions to those of children who stole cookies from the jar, only for their mom to walk into the kitchen and catch them.   
'... Oh, hey Nico!' Lee smiled the most fake smile Nico had ever seen. He sighed deeply.  
'I won't rat you two out to my dad, you know. I will not get anything from that.' Lee and Castor looked at each other. 'Yeah, you are right,' Castor agreed. 'Honestly, I don't even know why we thought otherwise.'  
'So, what are you two doing?' Nico took another sip of coffee. He gagged. 'Ugh, how can you drink this?'  
'We can better ask you how you can drink it. This stuff is made for ghosts, of course it tastes weird to you. Oh, and we needed to get a new throne for your dad, after we sort of destroyed the last one.' Nico nodded slowly. He had heard that.  
'There is a 'but' there, I can feel it.'  
'...but the person who manufactured the throne was not at home - he lives in Yomi - so we had to... improvise.'  
Nico looked at Castor and Lee. Castor had turned towards the barista and was ordering coffee with muffins. Lee had an expression in his eyes that was a mix of intense joy and fear, which was an interesting combination. Nico knew what they had done. He could feel it.  
'Did you two go to the afterlife equivalent of IKEA?'  
'Might have!' Castor turned around with two cups of coffee, a chocolate muffin, a raspberry muffin and a big, almost mad grin on his face. Nico felt a grin growing on his own face. 'Wonderful. Let's get it back to the palace in...' he sighed when he saw the time. '...in thirty-five minutes.'

Thirty-seven minutes later, they were seated in the train, with a box that was unusually big next to them (and about seventeen small plastic baggies with stuff that wasn't exactly necessary, but let's be real, what in IKEA is truly necessary, aside from the meatballs?). Nico was scanning the hallway like a hawk. In this train, there were also multiple random souls wandering around the aisle. Some looked like they wanted to steal food, others looked like stealing other souls was more their speed. A lady, completely covered in a big black dress, a black hat with a veil and black gloves, was sitting close to them. Nico could not tell because of the veil, but he felt like she was staring at them.  
'I am starting to think making this Railway conecting every single afterlife might have been a bad idea,' Lee mentioned, 'Because everyone seems to be hostile towards everyone.' Nico shrugged.  
'Heaven is not attached to it. Hel is, though.'  
'As in, Helheim or the Christian Hel?' Castor asked. He sounded half asleep.  
'Both,' Nico answered. Castor slowly nodded. His eyelids closed (which looks... really weird on ghosts, not going to lie. Like... it is a little see-through... okay, you don't want to know this).  
Nico sighed dramatically. 'How long is this going to take!?' Lee looked at the small clock that was hanging in the train. 'I think about forty five minutes longer.' Nico sunk deep down into the chair. 'Man, I should have brought more food. I had a sandwich, but that was snatched out of my hands by a ghoul.' Lee laughed.  
'By a ghoul? How did that even happen?'  
'I don't know! It also jumped through the side of the train with my sandwich! I guess I wasn't paying attention, that is something you shouldn't do around ghouls...'  
Castor jerked his head up. 'Howlateitiswherearewe!?'  
'It is half past three and we are at... station Helheim.' He shivered. 'Which is probably why it's so ridiculously cold.'  
Nico looked at the box with the 'throne' in it. 'Alright, honest question: do you guys know what a Björg is or did you two just pick something random?'  
Castor and Lee shot each other uncertain looks. 'We... sort of know what it is,' Lee answered.  
'I believe it is black,' Castor added. Nico turned around, so that he could look these two in the eye. 'You really should have waited until the manufacturer was done.'  
Castor and Lee grinned. 'Nico, imagine the look on Hades face,' Castor said, softly. Nico knew exactly what Hades would look like when he saw the Björg, but the son of Hades had a weird suspicion that glee while he finally banished those two to Tartarus was not what Castor was thinking of.  
They arrived at Hades central station. They managed to get the box out of the train just in time (Lee had to duck away from the closing doors). When Nico saw the escalator, he groaned. 'You two did not think this through.'  
'Maybe not,' Castor agreed, while he and Lee begun to haul the box towards the escalator. Nico looked at it. He was not going to help - they got themselves into this situation, they could get themselves out!

'Nico, a little lower!'  
'I am trying my best and a moment ago it was a little higher, Castor!'  
'Please just shut up!' Lee added. Nico had looked at it for three seconds and just could not let the two ghosts figure it out themselves. That would probably cause way to much damage to the station that Hades would not be to pleased about. Luckily, they were now passing the gates of Hades' magnificant palace. The skeleton warriors that were on-duty stared at the three people hauling a big box (and seventeen small baggies) into the castle. This was possibly the most hilarious thing they had seen in all their years of being forced to guard Hades' castle.  
The lord of the dead himself saw the three kids yelling at each other while carrying the box into the three room and immediately concluded that if you wanted something done correctly, you should just do it yourself. There was no way his throne was called a Björg, and if it was, he wanted to have a word with the throne maker in Yomi. He put his hands to his temples, which he slowly massaged.  
'Alright. Put the box down right there...'  
'But the old throne stood more to the left...'  
'Just put it right where I am pointing you, blondie! As I was saying, put it there and build it up. We'll see what you kids got and in the meantime I will send someone to get the actual throne.' Hades strided out of the throne room, leaving the two ghosts and Nico to do their work.  
Of course, the manual said it should only take fifteen minutes, but Hades had given them three hours. He figured that might just be enough for them to figure out how to make the 'throne' and put it together. In the meantime, he could do some office work.  
After two hours, he went to take a quick look at the progress. To his surprise, the 'throne' was already up. And he had to admit - it looked sort of comfy.  
'Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would,' he said, while looking at the Björg. Castor saluted. 'We tried our best. In a few days, we'll check if the throne from Yomi is ready.' Hades mentally rolled his eyes. He knew they would forget (Also, he had already found some skeletons to do that).  
'Yes, yes, well, thanks for the work. This... will do, until the real throne arrives.' Castor, Lee and Nico turned their heads around in unison. Nico's mouth fell open. He had never expected his father to react so... relatively positive.  
'No, go away! I have more work to do!' Hades clapped in his hands while he said it. Nico, Castor and Lee got up and ran off - Nico towards his room so he could get back to the upper world, Castor towards the Dionysus' house in Elysium and Lee to the isles of the blessed.   
Just as Nico stepped out of his cabin when remembered what he actually needed to do in the Underworld: get the ring of the dead from Duat and bring it to Hades. Oh. That was why he took the train, too. He sighed deeply, before tiredly turning around, to emerge on his trip back down into Hadestown.


	165. Who Gets The Credit?

Poseidon threw his towel over his broad shoulders while confidently walking through the halls of his palace. It was a wonderful day. Absolutely perfect for a swim in the river Arun, in Nepal. With a snap of his fingers, Poseidon was standing by the Riverside. He dropped his towel to the ground and strechted a few times, before he dove into the water.   
Mortals would get hyperthermia if they stayed in the river for longer than two minutes. Yet, Poseidon was a god and that made him capable of swimming in a low-ranking river when he desired to do so. He swam up to the surface of the river. While taking a deep, refreshing breath he gazed at the mountains around him. He smirked. The mountains still looked just as good as they had on the day he had created them.  
His euphoria dissappeared like snow in the sun when someone violently pushed his head under the watersurface. The sea god screamed and flailed his arms around. He heard a yelp, followed by a splash. With a swift motion he turned around. Behind him there was a woman gasping for breath. When she retrieved her balance, Poseidon could see the rage in her eyes.   
'What are you doing in my river!?' The woman screeched.   
'Your river? I am the god of the ocean! Every body of water belongs to me!'  
'''The god of the ocean'', therefore the god of salt water, not rivers and lakes.' She took a few seconds to study Poseidon from head to toe. 'And even then only from the salt water around the mediterranean area, I reccon, lord Poseidon.' She smirked.  
Poseidon flipped his magnificent black locks over his shoulder. He widely spread his arms. 'I'll have you know I made these gorgeous mountains all around us! If I want to, I can be around my own creation!'   
A few wrinkles appeared on the forehead of the goddess. 'Are you really trying to say that... you created the Himalaya?'  
Poseidon puffed up his chest. 'You heard that correctly, little miss. I made this gorgeous mountain range that ''your'' river runs through.' Even though he felt angry that he was attacked and dismissed by this extremely minor goddess, he could not help but feel proud.  
The goddess slowly shook her head. Poseidon could see in her eyes that she thought he was a huge dunce. 'No, Poseidon. Brahma made them. The creator himself. Not you. Go back to your silly little seas.'  
The comment made Poseidon boil with anger. He commanded the water to rise up, in order to attack the goddess with a large wave. The goddess shook her head again. With a handwave, she shut the wave down (this was her river, after all. She had final say on what the water did).   
Poseidon reacted in the very mature way gods react to these setbacks: by changing the goddess into a carp. Nice, she thought - carps could always quickly swim away from any situation. She would change back a few miles ahead and let Poseidon have his moment of victory. It wouldn't take long for the others to arrive.   
The god of the ocean was, indeed, celebrating his (rather small) victory. Silly little river goddess, thinking she could do something to him! The mighty Poseidon! He raised his arms for a second refreshing dive, when he felt something hitting him in the back.   
He turned around faster than lightning. Behind him, a tiger was standing in the river. Not just any tiger, though. Poseidon could see that it was the Egyptian earth god Geb, who had inhabited the tiger as a host.   
'What do you mean, I made these mountains!?' The vocal cords of the tiger made Gebs' voice hoarser then usual. Poseidon did not know whether to start screaming, attack Geb, or just give up, go home and swim in the atlantic ocean for some time, away from annoying other gods claiming stuff as 'their river' and his magnificent mountains as 'their mountains.' Gosh, why were other gods so selfish?  
He turned towards Geb. 'Have you let someone check your ears lately? I created these mountains, sandhead!' He yelled. Geb flexed his muscles. A few rocks on the shore rolled into the river. Poseidon could feel the earth rumbling underneath his feet. 'Which one of us controls the earth, Poseidon? How could you have made these mountains?'  
'I caused an earthquake near Kayala. It was so big it caused two earth plates over here to collide as well, forming these marvelous mountains!'  
Geb took a few steps forward. The body of the tiger started to feel hot - the host must not be strong enough for his divinity. 'No, no, barnaclebeard. I knocked my fist onto the floor - hard. It caused parts of the ground all over the earth to rise up. The rocky mountains, the andes, this, it is all my work.'  
Poseidon did not know what to say. It was so untrue, so false, so completely made up, that he had no words for it.  
'Distrauggt by the truth, Poseidon?' Geb grunted.   
'...No, I am distraught by the gaul of everyone today! The river goddess claimed the creator of these mountains was Brahma! You try to claim the credit for yourself! All while It was me!'  
Geb crouched down, getting ready to jump, when the tiger suddenly incarcerated and turned to ash within seconds. 'Just wait...' Geb said in the moments before his spirit got carried away. Poseidon sighed deeply. He truly couldn't with other devine beings sometimes.  
Annoyed and distraught, he stomped to the side of the river, where his towel was laying. He threw it over his shoulder, before teleporting himself back to his palace.  
Amphitrite was sitting in the living room when Poseidon came stomping down the hall. With a flick of his fingers his clothes changed from swimming trunks to his regular wear. He pushed open the door to the living room and dropped onto a couch, pouting. Amphitrite refused to pay attention to him for the first few minutes he was sitting there. She looked up when Poseidon sighed, sat up straight and straightend his clothes. 'What happened?'  
'I wanted to go for a relaxing swim in the river Arun, next to my gorgeous Himalaya mountain range when two weirdo's popped up and tried to claim somebody else made them!'  
A wrinkle appeared on Amphitrites' forehead. 'You're Lucky it were just two devinities. I believe the Himalaya has one god for each mountain in the range. The creator could have been any of them.'   
Poseidon had never felt so betrayed. He disappeared in a gust of wind, which Amphitrite was wholly unimpressed by.  
Poseidon had not payed a lot of attention to the place he teleported himself to. He appeared back in the Himalaya, the thing most on his mind right now. He was sitting right next to a grand palace. With an earthquake-causing sigh (He was very sorry for east-Nepal) he yet again teleported away, to another part of the Himalaya. He was sick of the mountain range at this point, but he was even sicker of teleporting around (Literally. He should stop teleporting around right this moment or his breakfast might come out the wrong way). He dropped into the snow with a deep sigh.   
The lord of the ocean had a very clear memory of the earthquake in Kayala, but he still begun to worry if he had really been the one to make these mountains. Maybe it really had been Geb or Brahma - both gods were older then he was. Or it could have been an accidental group effort.   
His deep thoughts were interrupted when he was catapulted into the air. He turned his body so that he could look at the ground. 'Oh, hello, Skadi. You aren't even a goddess, so there is not a chance that these are your mountains.'  
'That's where you are wrong!'  
Poseidon screeched incomprehensibly, before teleporting away again. He could just keep his food inside his stomach. The world around him spun wildly. He sunk to the ground. When the room stopped spinning, he slowly got up and took a moment to see where he was.   
Alright, now this was beyond weird. He was inside a dimly lit room, with one window. Outside, he recognised an arena the gods had once created together in order to settle a dispute about... who had made the northern light. Oh. He realised he was seeing the arena from the room of a contestant. While scanning the windows on the other side of the arena, he noticed another god doing the same. They quickly pulled the curtain in front of the window.  
He looked around the changing room. A trident was laying on a plastic lawn chair. He slowly picked it up, before walking towards the door. There was no reason to stay in the changing room - it was dirty, uncomfortable and he could already here the cheering of the gods who came to watch the spectacle outside.  
The cheering got louder and louder while he walked down the spiral staircase that lead to the arena floor. Poseidon strenghtend the grip on his trident. Not that he was nervous, of course not.   
He stopped walking when he reached a portcullis. Behind iron portcullis laid the arena in which he would defend his honour and his rights to the credits of the gorgeous mountains he created. He heard someone hyping up the audience. It sounded a bit like Bragi, but Poseidon wasn't sure. Oh well, it did not matter. He just had to show the other gods what for.   
The portcullis rolled up with a rattling noise. Poseidon stormed into the arena. Dust rose up all around him. Right in front of him Poseidon saw a god he did not recognise. With a wave of his arms he raised the floor around the god. The god stomped his foot onto the ground. Poseidon clutched his trident as he realised that the god had Geb's aura.   
From the right side, a minor god from an ancient religion Poseidon did not feel like remembering caming bolting towards him. The sea god smashed his trident into the sand, causing a wave that washed over the god. He heard the other god yell, but did not pay attention to it. The puny devinity would sink through the ground and appear in the losers' chamber - that was how the arena worked.   
Poseidon had one goal: going after Geb, the second person that came to mind when he thought of this whole ordeal (The first person that came to mind was the river goddess, but he figured she would not be fighting in the arena. She did not think she made the Himalaya and that was what the battle was about).  
Geb was sinking an earthquake demon into the ground when Poseidon appeared behind him. With a few magical whispers, he made the earth around Poseidon rise up. The sea god smashed his trident into the ground, so that water appeared, which kept him from sinking down into the losers' room. When he realised he was safe, he send the wave Gebs' way.  
The earth god dropped through the ground and right into the losers' room. An earth god stood no chance against Poseidon's enormous flood. Water wipes the earth away, after all.  
Poseidon cheered in victory. He had done it, he had really done it. He had defeated Geb. He gave a loud cheer. See? It was his Himalaya after all! He had proven him stronger than Geb, therefore the earthgod couldn't possible have done it! Victory...  
Poseidon heard a rumbling sound behind him. The next moment, all he felt and saw was a damp darkness.  
Only when he found himself sitting on a manky lawnchair in the losers bunk he recognised he was defeated. To make matters worse, he was currently seated right next to Geb. They both took a deep breath. 'So. What happened?' Poseidon shrugged.  
'If I have to guess, Brahma.'  
'Of course! Because he made the Himalaya!' He heard a familiar voice chirp. He looked over to see the river goddess sit a few chairs ahead. He rolled his eyes and turned away.  
The god to his left pushed a cup of coffee into his hands. 'Here. It is extra strong. We'll need it.' Poseidon nodded, defeated. He would hear about this for years, year hunderts, eons to come. Every devinity in the room could use all the coffee they could get.


	166. Big Feet, Bigger Head

'This is so not what Chiron meant,' Percy yelled over his shoulder.  
'Whatever,' was the answer that the Stolls gave him in unison. Percy had to agree to that. Yeah, whatever, they were doing it now anyway, so what did it matter?  
In a fit of annoyance that Chiron very rarely had, he had told the Stolls to go take a hike after they tried to talk and brine their way out of a week of dish-duty for stealing a lot of food saved for the Christmas feast. The Stolls, funny as they were, had decided to take that literally. For a few weeks, they tried to prepare for their journey without Chiron noticing. They had asked people if they wanted to come along, of course, but almost no-one did. They all thought actually taking a hike (and not just any hike, but a hike through the Himalaya of all places) after Chiron said something he probably already regretted was a little overboard. Piper and Percy were the only people who had wanted to come along.   
Piper rolled her eyes while pulling her hat slightly further over her head. The boys had made this joke at least twenty times since they departed. 'Guys, the jokes can do with a little bit more creativity next time,' she screamed to the three walking in front of her. Travis looked over his shoulder.   
'Of course, Piper. Being more creative is what Chiron would have wanted.' Piper felt like running towards him to do something to him Chiron would not have wanted, but that seemed like an action with too much real consequences at the moment.

'What if we find the yeti?' Connor suddenly asked, not even a minute later. Now. He had a point. Piper caught up with the others. Percy slowed down a little, so that they were all walking next to each other. 'Now that sounds like something exciting,' Piper answered. Travis gave her an indifferent look. 'This entire trip is exciting. We are hiking in the Himalaya!'   
Piper rolled her eyes. 'Walking is not exciting. Bigfoot is.'  
'Bigfoot is just another monster!'   
Percy gasped and turned around. 'How dare you call Bigfoot a monster? They are probably a wonderful being!' Travis looked at him like she was crazy. He turned towards his brother, but to his shock Connor seemed to agree with Piper.   
'Connor, you can't possibly...'  
'We do not know them! They might be like Nessy, you know. She's nice.'  
'We have never met Nessy! And have you forgotten about the Kraken? That was a nightmare.' Percy's smile faded. He rememberd the Kraken very clearly. It had indeed been a nightmare.   
Piper scrapped her throat. She had walked slightly further ahead. 'Now, guys, not to worry you all to much, but I think this might just seace to be hypothetical.' It took the three boys some time to figure out what she meant, but as soon as they understood, they ran over to her, not thinking about the risks.   
'Oh, eh... that is one big footprint,' Travis mumbeld.   
Percy sighed deeply. 'We should not have made those jokes. That was like begging the universe to send the yeti our way.'  
'I thought you and Nico managed to get to universe to stop doing that?' Connor asked.  
'Yes, but it is literally the concept of the universe, what'd you expect?'  
Everyone else had to agree with that. Piper zipped up her coat a little higher. 'Whatever the universe may or may not have promised, that is a dangerously large footprint and we need to watch out.'  
'Does everyone have their weapons ready?' Percy asked. He should't have wasted his breath - expierenced demigods had their weapons ready almost all time.   
More cautiously, they continued walking. Strangely enough, the constant thread of a huge monster nearby did not ruïn the mood. 'Which God do you think made these mountains?' Connor wondered, while shuffeling closer to Piper.   
Percy shrugged. 'I think Hephaestus, Zeus or Poseidon would try to take the credits, but it must have been a God from Nepal. Maybe Nico knows who it was.'  
'I say every single God has tried to take the credit for the mountain range with the highest mountain on earth, but my guess is that plate tektonics are real,' Travis added to that. Piper turned around.   
'Shouldn't it be an earth god, then? Gaia? Geb? Others who cause earthquakes?'  
'Then we are back at Poseidon,' Percy mentioned.  
'Percy, there are earthquake gods in Nepal!' Connor was not very understandble, as he was also eating a Mars-bar that had been in Pipers' pocket a few seconds earlier. Piper briskly turned around.   
'Connor! Eat your own food!'  
'That's in my bag...'  
'So you steal mine!?' Piper tried to push him, but Percy held her back.   
'Eh...'   
Piper straightend her back. 'Alright, alright, I'll be the bigger person then!' She glared daggers at Connor, who knew to watch out for revenge in the very near future. 

'Would you look at that, more footprints.' Travis pointed at the huge mark in the white snow. 'I mean, it could be Bigfoot, but it could also be that the dinosaurs secretly survived.'  
'I do not think dinosaurs had toes, Travis.'  
'How do you know, Piper?'  
'Just a hunch.' Piper rolled her eyes. 'Alright, they probably had toes, but I cannot imagine they had such...' she paused for a second and gestured at the footprint in the snow. '...humanoid toes.'  
'Wow, that sounds terrifying! Let's quickly go further, so we might be able to reach the inn before nightfall!' Connor interrupted. They all stood still for a second, before running down the path - they did not want to be out in the dark with whatever the thing was that left footprints the size of a small lorry. 

 

They made it just before dusk and after a big splurge of panic because the sun was setting. While they dumped their stuff in the rooms and freshened up a little, the owner of the inn made them each a bowl of soup with a side of bread, as a small dinner - she was a daughter of Ponoma and knew all about the difficulties of demigod life. When they were seated, Travis gave her an innocent look. 'Say, do you know anything about giant footprints?' The server stared at him for a few seconds, like she had had that question a million times before and was wondering whether he was worthy enough to know the answer.  
'You have all heard of Bigfoot, I assume?'  
'See? I told you!' Connor screeched. The few other guests in the inn turned around for a second. Connor looked down at his soup. The server rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I am sure you told them. Yet, Bigfoot. It lives here and it leaves footprints about half the size of the inn.'  
'How do we know it won't step on the inn and destroy us all in the night?'  
'We do not know for sure at all, but we do have a small shield around the place.' She smiled at them and walked back to the kitchen. Piper took a bite of bread, soaked in soup. 'If it gets close to the inn, we must fight it.'  
'How?' Travis asked. A second later, he realised that that was a bit of a stupid question. 'Oh, you want to charmspeak it away?'  
'...maybe. I mean, it must have a home somewhere here, right?'  
Connor could not help but laugh. 'Are you imagining it has a giant mansion in the mountains?'  
Piper gave him a death glare. 'I was thinking of a cave...'  
'Well, I think I would buy a palace if I were a giant monster,' Percy added completely unprompted, which caused Piper to give him a deathglare as well. Yet, it also made her think. Why wouldn't the yeti have a palace if it had a house?  
The conversation quickly swerved away to a different subject. When the last drop of soup was gone, they decided to go to their rooms. Connor, Travis and Percy shared one. Piper had her own.   
While laying in her bed, Piper felt like she could use a roommate to feel less nervous. The idea of a giant beast walking around the mountains did not do much good for your nerves. She turned to her left side. It might be walking just past the inn right at this very moment. She turned back to her right side. Or it might be in its palace. No, cave. Stupid Travis. Stupid mountains. Stupid trip...  
Connor was staring out the window. He was sure he saw something move out there. Something big, white and hairy. He looked through the room. His brother was staring at the ceiling with wide open eyes, while Percy had his eyes closed but did not seem to be actually sleeping. Slowly, he got up. He shivered - the inn was cold at night. 'Alright. Bigfoot, right guys?'  
Immediately, Travis and Percy shot up. 'Did you see it?!' They yelled in unison.   
'No! No... I do not think so. Yet, we are all laying awake because of him, right?' Percy and Travis could only nod. 'Yeah... I guess,' Percy muttered. He was not guessing and they all knew. Connor took a deep breath and dropped back onto his bed. 'Maybe we should just go back tomorrow.'  
'Great idea, Connor. One problem: the person who is supposed to fly us back to the USA is four days walking away,' Percy said sarcastically. Connor gave him an angry look, which Percy could of course not see (but probably feel in his bones). 'We might be able to get him to come here.'  
'He's not going to like it,' Percy answered, just as they heard a knock at the door. The boys could not help but scream. 'It's just me!' Piper yelled from the other side of the door. Travis jumped out into the cold to let her in. 'So you all are not sleeping yet either?'  
Percy quickly chatted Piper up to what they had been talking about. Piper shrugged when he mentioned that it was probably impossible to get home early. 'I mean, we could ask him to pick us up with the heli. I brought my Phone, with Leo's receiver.'  
'Yeah, as if he wants to go out in Big Foot land.'  
'He lives here! He is probably used to living with the idea that a giant hairy monster is around! I mean...' her rambling was interrupted by a loud deep sound coming from outside. Percy felt the blood freeze in his veines.   
As if they were one, the four demigods sprinted out of the room as quickly as their legs could carry them. A few other doors opened - some other sleepy guests of the inn came out. 'Wha was da noise?' One of them asked, sounding half-asleep.   
None of the demigods answered. They had only one goal: get downstairs and ask the daughter of Ponoma what to do next.  
She was already standing in the mess hall. 'No need to threat,' she told the demigods when she saw them tripping over each other to get downstairs. 'What do you mean, no need to...'  
'It will probably go away in a few minutes. It always does,' she answered.  
'And you did not tell us!?' Connor sounded angrier than he had been that one time one of his pranks backfired horribly. She shrugged.  
'Some people get even more nervous if they know the Yeti walks by quite often,' she answered. While all four demigods were muttering not very nice things about her, she walked to a window.   
'Come.' Piper was the only one whom actually shuffled a little closer to her, so she could look out the window.   
'Ehw... that's its leg?'   
'Yes. Don't worry, it can see us.' The innkeeper narrowed her eyes.   
'Hm. It is going back south again.'  
'What's there?'  
'Its home.'  
'Its palace is in the south? But we come from the south!' Connor yelled so loudly the yeti could probably hear it from outside as well. In the meantime, the other guests had gathered in the mess-hall. Some of them looked like this had been what they had been expecting, some looked panicked, and one guy was jumping up and down yelling about how he needed to go outside (he was being restrained by his teammates).   
The innkeeper rolled her eyes. 'It's palace is hidden by magic. Mist.'  
'Wait, so it does have a palace!?' Connors' tone changed like the wheather in the Netherlands. Piper rolled her eyes. 'You should not have said that.' The innkeeper shrugged, while looking outside one more time - the Big Foot was walking away from the inn. Good. That way she might be able to still catch up on some sleep.  
The Yeti walked through the Himalaya. He knew he had just passed an inn, but he did not care about those puny humans as long as they left him alone. He was really feeling some relaxing time right now - leaving footprints all over the place was harder work than people thought it was. He could already see the towers of his palace in the distance. What a nifty little thing, mist. Could hide an entire yeti-sized gold-and-silver three-story big palace away from nosy demigods.


	167. Dance To Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! As I said six weeks ago, this will be my last story for a while. Thank you so, so much for reading my stories and do not hesitate to send me requests!

Annabeth beamed at Chiron, whom had heard a lot of weird things in his life, but he still had not expected this. 'You think... learning the campers how to dance will help them in battle?'  
'Yes. I have noticed that the way I move my feet in battle is a lot like the waltz my father used to teach me.'  
'Are you sure?'  
'Sometimes I think it might be more like the charleston.'  
Chiron looked at the floor for a moment. 'I... have to think about that for a moment, alright, Annabeth? I assume you are right, but... it is something I have never heard before.' Annabeth gave him a nod. 'Yeah, I understand. Shall I ask again tomorrow, at breakfast?'  
Chiron pursed his lips. 'I can't promise I'll have decided.' Annabeth shrugged.  
'Alright.' She gave Chiron a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Thanks for thinking about it anyway.' She walked out of the Big House, to go brush her teeth and get a good night's rest.  
Chiron trodded upstairs. Dionysus was sitting right on top of the table, with his feet on a chair. 'What'd she say?'  
'Get off the table. Now, this might sound crazy...'  
'That's my speciality, my centaur,' Dionysus answered while hopping off the table.  
'...but she wants all the demigods to learn how to dance.' Chiron hadn't expected Dionysus' eyes to light up like that was the best idea ever. 'Did she specify which dance?'  
'Well, she was talking about a waltz and the charleston, but technically she did not specify what she wanted to be taught.'  
Dionysus sighed with a nostalgic look in his eyes. 'The charleston was wonderful...'  
Oh, you've got to be joking, Chiron thought. Of course - dancing was a bit of a no-no during history, and Dionysus was all about breaking the rules of society. 'Did you know waltzing was considered scandalous when it was introduced? People touching each other and all...' Dionysus rambled on.  
'Do you really think dancing could help them with fighting?' Chiron asked. Dionysus looked like he was most offended at that interruption, but gave an answer: 'Did Chase say that? Because she might be right. You know, the few kids that learned the basics of ballet seem to be better in the training fights.' Chiron wanted to ask how Dionysus knew which kids learned ballet and that they were better in the training ring, but he decided to just leave it.  
'Could be. It teaches balance, swiftness and... other things, but then we will need a dancing trainer and I can say with quite certainty that you are not willing to teach children dancing.'  
'That, Chiron, is completely right. Yet, you are not thinking out of the box, or better said, out of camp.'  
'You mean Apollo?'  
'Terpsichore, but Apollo will do and probably come whether we invite him or not.'

 

Terpsichore clapped in her hands. She looked giddy. 'Good morning, campers! I am more than happy that Chiron has asked me to teach dance!'  
'Why thought?' Someone in the crowd yelled. Terpsichore smiled widely.  
'Because it teaches grace, balance, swiftness and other techniques that are important in a fight, more so because monsters do not know about those techniques!' There came some understanding murmuring from the crowd. A few demigods still seemed to not believe it, but they chose this elective themselves, so why would they complain?  
'If everyone is on board, we will get right on track!' Terpsichore chirped. 'Because we have just entered the new decade, I thought it would be fun to try a few easy steps of the Charleston!' She spread her arms. 'Now. You begin with...'  
Out of nowhere, loud Charleston music boomed out of invisible speakers. Apollo appeared in a beam of light, wearing a Charleston suit. He began to do an impressive Charleston routine, with lights and background and eventually with Terpsichore.  
When he was done, the lights and decor disappeared. He bowed deeply for the campers. Some of them clapped, others just sighed deeply. Apollo was back to being Apollo alright. 'Now now, I am not here to take the spotlight of my wonderful Terpsichore!' He softly pecked the muse on her hand. Terpsichore chuckled. 'Yet, I'd be happy to assist with the dancing class! The Charleston was not just a single dance!' Terpsichore softly tapped him on the arm.  
'Apollo is right. Yet, we will still begin with the basics. With the Charleston, those are not difficult. You take a step forward, than tap forward. With the tapping foot, you take a next step, followed by a tap with your other foot, you see?' Slowly, she demonstrated it. 'Come, come, try it!' A few campers began to step and tap along. Unsure and slow at first, but it didn't take long before they got more enthusiastic and quicker on their feet. Campers who were unsure at first started to dance along.  
Apollo started to feel better and better the longer he stood near the dancing campers. They seemed to enjoy dancing, at least for a bit, something that fuelled Apollo's divine soul. With starry eyes, he turned towards Terpsichore. 'We can teach them how to dance together soon!' Terpsichore smiled widely.  
'Well, first they'll have to learn how to shuffle.' She clapped in her hands. 'Alright, alright, Campers! Now that you can do the basic moves, we will try the shuffle that is token for the Charleston!' She hopped onto her toes and begun to shuffle to her sides. 'The shuffle itself is not that difficult, but when you combine it with tapping and stepping it can get quite a challenge! Yet, we have the rest of the hour and quite a few more lessons to train! Come, come!'  
Apollo laughed out loud. He snapped his fingers and music started playing in the background. 'Come on, this could save your life! Have any of you heard of how I defeated the monster emperor in the twenties? I impressed him with my moves before shooting him right in the chest! Not to mention what a certain son of Ares was doing! His footwork combined with his sword were a the nightmare of many monsters! And don't get me started about...'

 

Annabeth was searching for a couple pounds of clay, for crafts class. She passed the arena on her way to bunker 9. She stopped walking. She had not expected Chiron to take her idea so seriously. Apollo and Terpsichore? Now that was serious. She took a moment to look at what they were doing.  
It looked like the Charleston, but she could not be sure. Apollo was jumping around too much. She walked closer to the arena. The clay could wait - someone else would probably get it eventually.  
The campers were trying to Charleston shuffle. Terpsichore looked like she was trying to help and teach the campers, but Apollo seemed to be in so much euphoria that he was not looking at the campers much.  
Annabeth wandered into the arena. 'Hello, how is everything going?' She asked Terpsichore. The muse smiled. 'Well, it's never as easy as it looks!' She answered. Her eyes trailed off to Apollo. Annabeth took a deep breath, before walking past her.  
'Hey, Apollo?' Apollo turned towards her. Annabeth could see the divine enthusiasm in his eyes - oh, that explained why he was so happy. 'Annabeth Chase! Are you joining us? We can dance towards the sunset, destroy the minotaur with our moves and move towards a new era! It will be...'  
'Apollo, these kids still have to learn the most basic dance skills. They are currently slowly trying out the footwork of the Charleston. There won't be any minotaur tramplings soon.' Apollo blinked.  
'It's easy, Annabeth!'  
'Yeah, for us, but...'  
Apollo stopped dead in his tracks. 'Wait, you know how to do the Charleston?'  
Annabeth knew she made a mistake. She looked around to see if she could still run, but it was no use - Apollo had already put a hand on her waist. With an eye roll, she put her hand on his shoulder.  
'I truly do not believe that.'  
Annabeth shrugged. 'It's true.' She put a step back. 'You'll see.' Apollo smiled and put a step forwards, before they took a tap respectively forward and backwards at the same time.  
'Well, I guess you were not lying,' Apollo told Annabeth, a minute or so into the dance. Annabeth whipped her hair over her shoulder. 'Of course not. I was the one who recommended that Chiron do this.' Apollo raised his eyebrows and almost missed a tap (almost, of course. He almost stylishly missed a step).  
'You were? I wouldn't have suspected that from a daughter of Athena!'  
'Is that not our specialty, though? Having multiple unsuspected tricks up our sleeves?'  
Apollo nodded a few times, with a lopsided grin on his face. 'I guess you are right. I am surprised Chiron listened to you, though - I told him dancing might come in handy a couple of times!' Annabeth wondered how that went. If the introduction video Apollo had made, he probably had been ever so slightly too dramatic in his pitch. She sighed. 'Yeah, weird.'  
A few minutes later, they stopped. They heard someone clapping, which quickly got louder as more children applauded them. Apollo made a deep bow. Annabeth turned away a little. 'I must go find some clay,' she murmured, before continuing on her way to bunker 9.  
Apollo spread his arms. 'Children, you can all learn to swing like that...'  
'Yes, yes, very good,' Terpsichore interrupted him. 'Let's get back to shuffling, now...' Apollo looked at the group of kids. He took a deep breath and shook his head. Ugh. He got into a fit of ecstasy, didn't he? Alright, didn't matter, what happened happened, now he must help these kids...

 

'I do not hear training sounds,' Dionysus said while walking up to Chiron in the Big House. The centaur nodded. 'Yeah, that's right, I gave Terpsichore permission to give dance lessons in the arena.'  
When Dionysus didn't answer, Chiron looked up. The wine god looked surprised. 'You... have actually made dance lessons a thing?'  
'As a small elective, to see how it goes.' Dionysus didn't answer. Instead, he walked right out of the Big House, towards the arena.  
He put his hands on his sides. Terpsichore and Apollo were hopping around with the campers. Dionysus could recognise footwork that was usually part of the Charleston, but it was also clear that the campers needed a lot more practise.  
Apollo twirled around, when he suddenly noticed his brother standing by the entrance of the arena. 'Dio! Glad you have decided to come out of the house!' Dionysus teleported away so fast multiple campers did not even see him. Apollo narrowed his eyes. He had a pretty good idea of where his brother must have gone. With a small pop, he disappeared from the arena, to Shenandoah forest.  
Terpsichore took a relieved breath. 'Sorry for that little interruption! Yet, I think you all understand the basics of the Charleston, which means it might be fun to try out dancing with a partner. If you would all make duo's...'  
The demigods shuffled around, trying to find something to dance with. Sadly, they were with an uneven number, so that one girl stayed alone. But no harm done - Terpsichore grabbed her hand. 'We will show them how to do it, alright?' The girl nodded excitedly. Terpsichore turned her attention towards the group again. 'Campers, let me show you how to do it together...'  
That evening, Terpsichore stayed over for dinner. Chiron stood up and tapped his spoon against his glass, so that the campers stopped talking.  
'Good evening, campers! Today, we have done our first dance class since the victorian age!' There was a polite applause. Some of the dancers had liked the class, but others had found it utterly boring. They needed to get used to it.  
Chiron waited until the applause was over. 'Thanks to Annabeth for the tip. Other news is that...'  
'...That it will be more than illegal to disturb the geiser spirits. Take note of that.' Dionysus appeared in the middle of the pavilion. A few campers softly gasped, some chuckled. 'Also, Apollo is suspended from camp for a week, which I did not inform Chiron of, but I do not think he will be against it.' He slowly pulled of the tie. 'I dislike the suits from the roaring twenties,' he sighed, before disappearing again.  
Terpsichore turned to Chiron. 'Are... is it Always sort of crazy in here?' Chiron gave her a tired smile. 'I would say today is a rather calm day,' he remarked.


	168. Mythological Memes

'Hey?'  
'Oh no.'  
'What oh no?'  
'Well, Leo, that is the tone that you have when you are about to say something utterly stupid or dangerous.'  
'Thanks for the trust, Piper. Yet, I was wondering...'  
'Stop it.'  
'... I was wondering why we demigods do not have our own memes. I mean, we just use the same memes as any random mortal or any random other demigod.'  
Piper looked up from her comic book. 'I... that is kind of a good question.'  
Leo jumped down from the bunk bed and onto the hard wooden floor of the Hephaestus cabin. He pulled out his Phone. 'Now that we have safe phones, we have no excuse to not make our very own meme-culture!' He stuck his Phone in the air. 'Now, I already have a grand idea...' he ran out of the cabin, closely followed by Piper, who was more than curious about what he could come up with. After a few seconds, they were joined by a few other Hephaestus demigods, who were already busy typing on their phones.  
Nyssa stayed behind in the cabin. She slowly lowered her magazine. Making memes? For demigods? Oh no. Now that would lead to some nonsense. Slowly, she put her magazine away, before getting up from her bed and walking to the door. She could see a cloud of her siblings dancing around the strawberry fields, clearly trying to do something that they thought was hilarious. She couldn't help but smile, concluding that seeing the demigods try to make memes would probably be funnier than whatever they could come up with.  
Chiron noticed that very same evening that something was up. The camp was in a buzz of excitement - that did not happen until something grand was announced or the demigods thought of something potentially dangerous which they thought was the greatest. He gave Dionysus a sideways look. 'Do you know what could be going on?'  
The wine god gave him a shrug. 'No, not really. I saw them all running around the field with their phones earlier, but I think that is regular teenage behaviour.' He took a sip of diet coke, while locking eyes with Chiron. The centaur understood the message - whatever it was, Dionysus did not want to know. Chiron made a mental note to absolutely tell him everything he would find out.  
'Good evening, kids! I notice that you are all very giddy about something!' A few demigods looked up, a few others were too focused on their phones or food. Leo, however, jumped up. 'Yes, indeed! Say, could you give a dramatic speech?' Chiron gave him a weird look. Dionysus woke up from staring into the fifth dimension to stare at Leo like he was crazy. Piper jumped up from her chair, with her Phone camera out.  
'You know, let it be! Those faces were perfect!' She ran out of the pavilion, with Leo at her heels. Chiron looked like he understood the situation even less. Dionysus jumped up from his chair, accidently knocking over his can of Soda. 'Mclean! Valdez! Get back here...' Chiron softly pushed him back into his chair. 'Dio, how terrible can it be? Just let them be...' Dionysus looked up at the centaur. He looked so tired Chiron was not so sure that everything Piper and Leo were doing was completely innocent. 'Sure, Chiron. If your face is all over demigod social media, we'll talk more about it.'  
Piper and Leo took their refuge in bunker 9. 'Alright. I forgot to take a picture of Dionysus, but Chirons' picture is pretty enough... we just need a funny caption.' She looked at the picture of Chiron looking confused. Leo snapped his fingers a few times. 'Eh... I think... maybe ''When there is a hellhound behind the barrier?'' Oh, no, ''The hellhound when I am behind the barrier!''' Piper clapped in her hands.  
'Great, great! Can you edit it?' Leo raised an eyebrow.  
'Of course I can edit it.' He began to grin. 'My computer is already booted up!'

 

Reyna's Phone vibrated. She picked the Phone up from her desk. A message from Leo - with a picture. Alright, then. She opened her Phone to see whatever he had send her. She did not know what to expect - it was Leo, it could be literally everything. When she opened the message and saw the meme of Chiron looking confused, with Leo's dumb caption under it, she put her Phone onto her desk. She had to process it for a moment. Memes. Leo had found out they could make memes. Oh no. That would mean chaos, and not just in Camp Half-blood.  
Just as she wanted to text Leo back, she heard loud knocking on her door. 'Reyna?' Hm. That sounded like Lavinia. 'In!' Reyna answered. The daughter of Terpsichore came tumbling into the room, with her Phone in her hand. Reyna felt her heart sinking into her chest. It was already send to multiple people. Within moments, all of camp Jupiter would be running all over the place, memeing anything and everything they could find.  
'Did you get the message from Leo? Isn't it hilarious!?' Lavinia asked, sounding excited. Reyna slowly nodded, with a fake smile. 'Yeah, sure, great. We might have to do some extra moral training today.' Lavinia rolled her eyes.  
'Yeah, yeah, come on Reyna, they won't go completely mad because of a few memes. We have had memes before, we can just make them ourselves now.' Reyna looked out of her window.  
'That's what I am worried about,' she answered.

 

It spread around the divine world like wildfire. Hades tried to stay out of it as much as possible - he did not feel like getting swept up in whatever the teens were doing today. But he had not accounted for Nico, who loved memes way more than Hades (or anyone really) had thought. One day, when Hades was just trying to eat a nice bowl of oatmeal and relax for a moment, he was interrupted by Nico jumping around the corner and snapping a picture of him - and not a very flattering one either. He had just taken a bite and his expression was equally surprised and annoyed by what this nonsense was.  
He begun to realise what was going on when Nico ran away, in the direction of Elysium. He jumped up and dropped his spoon to the dirty floor. 'Nico! Get back here this instant! I cannot have my reputation ruined!'  
Yet, Nico was already gone, probably to his friends to make one of those 'memes' out of it. Hades took a deep breath. It would probably fly over quickly. Maybe the picture was blurry. He forcibly smiled. Yeah, it would be okay. Stay calm. Just go get a new spoon and things would be fine.  
No. No they would not. The surprised hades meme format became the most popular demigod format within moments. Yet, this was the moment Dionysus decided to interfere. He had tried to follow the meme hype as closely as his pride would allow (Which wasn't very close, but close enough to notice the Hades meme).  
'Say, Chiron?'  
'Dio, that tone is actually concerned. What is the issue?'  
'Those kids are using pictures of gods for their jokes now. We might need to do something about it before the gods will get angry at them, each other, or everyone at once.'  
Chiron sighed. 'Nys, I think it will be alright. It's just a hype, it'll be over soon!'  
'No.'  
'Yes. You know what? Will talk more about it once the gods are at each other, alright?'

 

Aphrodite stormed out of her castle and towards Zeus' palace. She angrily knocked on the door. 'Zeus! I demand justice!' Zeus nervously opened the door a little bit. When Aphrodite was this angry, you had to watch out. 'Eh... what is it, Aphrodite?'  
Aphrodite forced herself into the palace. 'It's... that horrible picture of me that is everywhere! I want you to take it down and banish the person who is responsible to Tartarus!' Zeus felt his cheeks flush bright red. 'Well, well, banishing to Tartarus will be difficult. Yet, I could find that person and ask them to take it down.' He smiled.  
Aphrodite raised one of her eyebrows. 'Yes... that would be nice,' she answered, before turning around and walking off. That horrible Zeus. She would get him back for that and she would get him back for that right this instant!  
Zeus quickly deleted the Original picture of Aphrodite sitting on her couch with a face mask dripping down the sides of her face and a piece of cucumber on her cheek instead of on her eyes. Alright, it might have been a stupid idea to post that onto the internet. It might have been a really, really stupid idea to have posted anything concerning Aphrodite on the internet. Yet, she would not be completely ruthless in her revenge, right?  
Zeus knew he it was wishful thinking when he thought it, but when he saw his own face projected onto a screen on the big throne room, surrounded by a bunch of gossip (Of which none... some.... alright, most of it was true). He disappeared of the mountain in a thunderstorm, not to be seen for a few days.  
Dionysus looked at the screen. What did he tell Chiron again? Right. He teleported off of Olympus (He knew he should not have been there, but nobody paid attention to him if he was there anyway) and right in front of Chiron, who dropped a book to the floor when he suddenly saw his colleague arrived right in front of him.  
'The gods are going at each other. Do something about it.'  
Chiron picked up the book and put it down. 'I have a plan. Maybe. We should try to get this to stay with the demigods.'  
'Maybe you are too late.'  
'You're optimism is heartwarming, as always, Dio.'  
'It is my speciality.'  
Yet, it turned out that Dionysus was right. Chiron could hold by the demigods a little bit by forbidding them from including divine beings in their memes (which only worked for a bit, because demigods think listening is for the weak, but it was enough to not have any gods attack the camp), but you cannot stop divine beings from doing anything. Actually, the demigods didn't even need to make the memes about the gods themselves - said gods did a great job of making each other ridiculous in their place.  
Reyna scrolled past the new monstrosities on her phone. It wasn't the demigods she should have worried about - it was the gods, who were now well ahead with making each other ridiculous. She took a deep breath and put her phone down. Now it was only a matter of time before the gods decided to fight this out on earth. She got up from her desk chair. There was only one thing to do: make sure her camp was prepared for whatever was going to be thrown at them.


End file.
